Trick and Treat!
by Megaphone.Kills.You
Summary: AU:Deidara finds himself drugged and tied inside some strange abode filled with a bunch of freaks. In order to stay alive and not to end as today's dinner, Deidara had to fulfil his duty. So let the game begin! T for now :SasoDei:PaiKo:Song-fic:
1. Gift!

**I know that I originally put this story on my "Maybe-I'll-write-this-later"-list, but then I just couldn't get it out of my mind! (The other "Maybe"-stories are still on my profile, feel free to vote which one comes next)**

**The inspiration comes from the song "Trick and Treat" by the VOCALOIDs Rin and Len Kagamine (Listen to it, it's great!) and I'm listening to it right now. Because this is also kinda a song-fic, once in a while, there will be quots from the song, along with the english lyrics. There a quite a few in this chapter, but there won't be as many (probably) in later ones. **

**Also, the writing stlye may change. The writing style I had in mind didn't fit this chapter right, so it only appears once in a while in here, for example Maki's part. I thought it would fit a Horror-fic... This is the second time I write something like this so please don't kill me, okay? Please? D:  
(And just ignore any grammar mistakes and the like. As I said in...probably most of my fanfics, english is not my native language.)**

**Oh, and Pain has Nagato AND Yahiko as names. I just couldn't decide which one to pick.**

**Now, everything I can say is: Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the song "Trick and Treat", Rin and Len Kagamine, nor do I own the english lyrics. I found them on youtube. I do however, own the plot of this story (hopefully! Who knows, maybe somebody else already wrote something like that?), Maki and the crappy poem at the beginning that doesn't even deserve to be called a poem.**

* * *

**Chapter.1: Gift!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

_There is a house, deep, deep in the woods_

_That no one dares to enter_

_But once a boy was lured to it _

_He went inside, but later_

_He was gone forever,_

_For he was trapped by the house's master_

_A puppet filled with nothing but sorrow and loneliness_

_And on Halloween, at midnight, (or shortly after),_

_He turned the boy into one of his kind, _

_So that they would spend eternity together._

_And they did._

_There is a house, deep, deep in the woods_

_That no one dares to enter_

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Deidara? Hey, Deidara, are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?"

"Hey, Deidara-senpai, it's not nice to ignore people!"

Deidara hadn't even noticed that he had been spacing out, at least not really, and now that he was brought back to reality, he actually felt a bit embarrassed to be caught drifting off to Lala-land.

His three best friends were staring at him, with slightly annoyed expression.

After all, he was pretty sure that when he wasn't listening, they were talking about their plans for Halloween.

Konan sighed, blowing a few strands of her dark blue hair out of her face, leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment, while she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Pain basically did the same, but he continued to watch Deidara with his freaky grey eyes that had circles round the pupil.

"Say, what are you going to do next week? Are you free, Deidara-senpai? Konan-chan, Pain and I would like to spend Halloween with you!" exclaimed a happy voice at the right side of Deidara. The blonde turned to the source of the voice and was met with the same orange mask with the same swirly pattern he was met with every day.

Tobi hadn't followed the other's example and had, in fact, leaned closer to the blonde, most likely with a big smile on his face.

"Uhm, sure, why not! Have you planned anything special?" asked Deidara, slightly unnerved by Tobi's proximity.

At that, the blue-haired female of the group huffed and said in an offended tone "We were talking about _just_ that when _you_ decided we were too _boring_ and spaced out!" To emphasize her statement, the redhead Pain now glared at him.

And once again, it was the masked boy who broke the ranks. "Konan-chan suggested that we dress up on Halloween and collect candy!"

While the other two shook their heads, Deidara furrowed his brows in confusion. "You mean, like Trick-or-Treat? Seriously?" "Seriously!" Tobi almost squealed. Almost.

Hm...Trick-or-Treat. They hadn't done that in years, although they met on the 31th October a few years ago. Ah, the memories...Yes, Trick-or-Treat sounded like a good idea, indeed.

"Sounds great, but why now? This is...kinda out of the blue" said the blonde. A small smile found its way on the woman's face and she placed her hands around her steaming cup of tea. Even her best friend stopped pouting and followed suit. He smirked slightly.

"Anniversary!" announced Konan and suddenly hugged a startled Deidara, almost knocking over the jar of strawberry jam and a tea pot in the process and then went on to Tobi who returned the gesture more than cheery.

"Remember? We met ten years ago, when those guys tried to steal the sweets I collected, Pain wasn't there and both of you suddenly appeared out of nowhere!"

As the memory replayed itself in his mind, the blond male mirrored her grin. "Yeah, I remember now. They were picking on you because of your hair color, weren't they?"

"Right. They were in my class and thought I dyed it to attract more attention."

"I wonder why Pain wasn't there then..." blurted out the mask carrier who probably felt left out. The redhead of the group scowled and glared at the table, while Konan sighed dramatically. She explained "You see, there was this guy who—"

"Konan. Don't."

"Oh, be quiet! It's clearly not my fault, and if you're embarrassed by it, then you shouldn't have done it" she scolded. That perked Deidara's interest. It was very, very rare that their childhood friend did something mortifying in public.

And so she continued with the story. "Okay, so there was this guy who had been doing the same as every other kid on Halloween. He was dressed up as a ghost and we saw him a few times, and he **_accidentally _**tripped me. I scratched my knee and he tried to apologize, but Pain over here got mad and chased him around the block. About five times, until the poor guy ran into someone and Pain caught up with him."

"Uh, that's funny!"

"You know what, Tobi? For once I agree with you!"

And the group laughed at the now pissed off man.

They were freaks; they were a family.

* * *

Konan was an orphan who was found on the streets; only a day after her aunt left her there. At the age of six, she started living in an orphanage which was led by a man called Jiraiya. The other kids avoided and picked on her because of her hair color. Because of that, she isolated and devoted herself to art. She loved the calmness of it and folded the most complicated things out of paper. Soon, she created her own world of calmness and paper, completely consumed by it.

She was a freak.

Pain's parents were murdered when he was only five and was sent to the same orphanage as Konan. Pain was originally born with the name Nagato Yahiko. He was stuck with the same fate as his female friend. His eyes were not exactly encouraging the children to talk to him. To deal with the pain of his loss (he thought he was responsible for his parent's death) and the cold-heartedness of the children towards him, he started cutting himself, till Konan caught him and helped him to get away from it. The start of their friendship, but when he grew up, however, the urge to cut himself got stronger again. As a way to suppress it, he pierced his whole face. Three piercings through the bridge of his nose, two through his bottom lip and seven piercings adorned both his ears now.

He was a freak.

Tobi was found on the doorstep of the Uchiha family. They pitied the little child and he became a part of the family. Rumors appeared, saying that he was the illegitimate son of the head of the company, Fugaku Uchiha. They got more and more explicit, until his wife Mikoto was confronted with Tobi's true mother, who explained that she just couldn't cope with bringing up the son of her dead husband. The tabloids and the boy himself never knew of that, but it saved the Uchiha's marriage and somehow, it saved Tobi. A year later, when he was eight, he was attacked by a madman and lost his left eye in the process. After that incident he wore a bright, orange mask with a swirly pattern to cover his face. His friends knew how much pain he felt. Not even his cheery character could cover that.

He was a freak.

And finally Deidara. He lived with his father until he turned thirteen, he then moved in with his mother who died three years later in a car crash. He had grown his blond hair long, it went past his shoulders, and a few strands covered the left side of his face. For a long time, he had just been alive, without really knowing why. Then he watched a show about explosions. He was hooked. In his opinion, explosions were the epitome of beauty. They were short-lively, but beautiful. He learned how to create bombs, but not for terroristic reasons. Bombs were his art. He soon had to accept that he couldn't just built bombs and let them explode. As a replacement, he started working with clay. But Explosions were his obsession.

He was a freak.

* * *

"Hey guys, it's getting late..."

The blond artist yawned and stretched his arms. He looked at his watch and yawned again. It was almost midnight, time to go home. Tobi had done so an hour ago.

He said good bye to his friends and left the house of Pain and Konan (he would never exactly figure out how they could pay it. Probably a part of Pain's fortune). Deidara had never liked it that much. It was in the forest and despite what he said; he was scared of the woods at night. And it didn't help that it was foggy outside.

He wrapped his coat a little closer around his body as he shivered in the night's breeze. With his eyes fixated at the path in front of him and the ears perking up at the quietest sound, he started his way back home. Home, where nobody was waiting for him.

A strong of gust blew his hair out of his face and he involuntary looked up from the ground. Between the branches of the almost bare trees, the moon shone down on the blonde, bathing him in light. And as he stared up to the dark sky and the moon, he heard something.

He listened closer, realizing that it was a voice. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

He couldn't quite hear what the person was saying, but it was obviously a melody.

The person was singing and Deidara couldn't move.

The voice got clearer and he was captivated by the sheer beauty of it. It was a slightly feminine voice, yet still the one of a boy, melancholic and melodic.

It was a sad song, he noticed.

Then the sound of twigs crushed under a certain weight disturbed the song and Deidara fearfully turned to the tree the noise was emitting from.

There, in the tree's branches, sat a girl.

Her hair was probably a dirty blond, and she was wearing cloths he had never seen in real life before. It looked like a maid outfit.

He watched interested as the stranger carefully climbed down the tree and faced him. Her pale skin glowed in the moon light and she stared directly at him. "Who are you?" she asked.

Something about the girl caused the young man to shiver. Her voice was so...dead. Still, he introduced himself.

"Ah, what a nice name! My name is Maki! Say, what brings you here?" she said and she smiled up to him. "I went for a walk, I suppose" he lied. At that, the strange child laughed silently, but he then noticed that she was about the same age as him, as he inspected her further.

She stepped closer to him and told him "I live here in the woods."

The blond boy looked her in the eyes and then he heard it again. The voice.

Maki must've heard it too because she snapped her head into the direction on her left.

"Do you hear that?" he muttered.

And suddenly her eyes widened, her jaw dropped a little and she gripped his wrist. "You...You can hear it?" she questioned. For the first time, something like emotion lay in her tone.

"Tell me, what do you hear?" Maki demanded, sounding desperate.

At that, Deidara concentrated again and finally answered "I hear a voice. It's singing."

He felt ridiculous for saying that out loud. The girl probably thought he was nuts, but to his surprise, the smile returned, now stretching over her whole face, reaching into her eyes.

"Would you like to take me home? I'm scared to go alone."

Taken aback by her sudden request, he accepted. It was not like he really had to be somewhere. And he couldn't help but ask "This person, the person who sings, will he be there too?"

"Sure!" she replied and took his slightly larger hand in her delicate one. "You will like it at my home!"

He knew that you shouldn't go with people, freaks like her, but could the place, where this wonderful voice was, really be bad?

No, of course not.

He wanted to listen to the voice all day long.

Wanted to listen to it.

He felt like he was in a trance.

And Maki dragged him behind her, deeper and deeper into the woods.

_Fukai, fukai kiri no naka youen ni hibiku koe  
__Deeper, deeper you come into the forest, pulled by a voice so sweet_

_Oide, oide kono mori no motto okufukaku made  
__Come on, come on, until you're deeper in the heart of the forest_

"Do you really think Deidara-kun will be fine, Pain?"

Konan worriedly looked out of her window, onto the small road that lead to the more busy parts of her hometown. "We should've come with him. Oh, if something happens to him...!"

"Konan, you're rambling nonsense again. He'll be fine. If someone tried to mess with him, he'd just blow them up."

The redhead looked at her with his grey eyes, his voice stoic as ever. However, the female didn't seem less worried. "That's not funny, _Nagato_. I don't want to be responsible if something happens. I don't want him to get hurt."

That surprised him a bit. He walked over to her and cupped her face with his hands.

"Don't worry. Deidara isn't a child anymore. He'll be fine, I'm sure. Just trust him"

She still wasn't convinced, but she was too tired to argue with him.

Sure, the blond troublemaker had gone this way hundreds of times alone before, but today, she felt as if something was up.

* * *

Maki was sure.

This was him.

He was the right one, definitely.

Finally.

He would be her master's gift.

Yes, her master would be pleased.

He would be pleased.

He would be **happy**.

* * *

They soon reached a clearance where a mansion that looked slightly rundown stood.

It had big and high windows and light fell onto the grass that was humid from the rain that had poured down a while ago. Still, it looked intimidating, with its high stone walls, not really welcoming. It looked a bit cliché, like the mansions in horror movies, just that there was obviously someone inside and it was way to clean and intact to be one.

As Maki dragged him to the huge door, he saw a small label, engraved into the stone.

"Akasuna Manor..."

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing. It's nothing."

"Okay, then hurry up, I'm sure everyone is worried for me."

_Hayaku, hayaku isogiashi de dekiru dake chikaku ni  
__Quickly, quickly, come as fast as your little legs can run in the dark _

_Oide, oide saa tanoshii  
__Come on, come on, it'll be so fun_

_Asobi wo hajimeyou  
__Let's play a game!_

The blond girl pulled a small key out from a pocket in her maid dress and unlocked the door. They both stepped inside the building.

The hallway was brightly lit, long and not as scary as the mansion's outside had promised. There was well-kept and expensive furniture, but no freaky family portraits or the like.

Deidara didn't have any more time, for Maki pulled him to another door at the far end of the hall. She wanted to open it, but was stopped by a voice that made her companion shiver in fright. It was a smooth, deep voice, but scary nonetheless.

"Hey, Maki, who the hell is Blondie over here?"

Said 'Blondie' spun around, facing a tall man in a dark cloak. He had light hair whose color was a mixture between grey and blond, his eyes were a light shade of violet and frowned.

Maki didn't seem one bit surprised nor intimidated.

"Good evening, Hidan-sama. I found this boy in the woods, going for a walk. I thought he may like some hot tea and sweets!" she exclaimed. Hidan, as she had called him, grabbed Deidara's chin and inspected his face closer. He then turned to the girl and they exchanged a few words, Deidara couldn't hear.

At something Maki said, Hidan's eyes widened, very much like Maki's did a while ago and he looked at the blonde who still stood dazed in the room.

The blond girl bowed and the guy went the other way, a smirk on his lips.

Deidara wondered what the female had told him, yet he didn't dare to ask.

While he was caught up in his thoughts, Maki opened the door, stepped aside so that he could walk in and pulled at the sleeve of his coat. "Deidara-san, we're here" she announced.

As he focused on the reality, he found himself in a small, cozy looking room with a table, two chairs and a few other things. Everything in it was light, childish blue.

Somewhat hesitatingly, the blond artist sat down on one of the wooden chairs and looked at the food on the table. Maki hadn't lied to Hidan; there was a tea pot, two cups and lots and lots of sweets.

The girl didn't take a seat; she instead stood next to him and said "Feel free to eat! I can only recommend you the cinnamon sticks!"

And again, a sorrowful melody reached his ears and Maki sighed. "He's singing again." she commented. Her gaze was directed at the ceiling and she seemed far, far away, so Deidara averted his attention at the sweets in front of him.

They all looked delicious...

_"Take the cinnamon stick. You'll like it..."_

Even though he didn't know where the voice was coming from, he obeyed, bewitched by the music filling his ears.

He never knew you could eat them without anything else, but there was always the first time.

Hmm...this really was great...

_Shinamon stikku wa mahou no sutekki  
__This cinnamon stick is a magic stick_

_hitofuri suru dakede shiropu ga fueru  
__Imagine that you're drowning in the sweetest syrups_

He continued to eat the sweets.

He just couldn't get enough.

Maki poured some tea into the cups and dropped two sugar cubes into each one. She took hers and drank. Deidara wanted to followed her example, but found out that he couldn't. He tried, but he just couldn't.

"Is something wrong, Deidara-san?"

His brain slowly clouded and he knew that he had fallen into her trap.

Their trap.

"I...I fell so...sleepy..."

"Don't worry, Deidara-chan. Everything is alright. Just sleep..." she encouraged him and this time, he didn't have a choice. He had to obey.

He had to.

_Nigasa sae wasurete amai yume no naka  
__Dreams relieve you of problems and sorrows that make you weep_

_tengai ni mamorarete  
__Because they are heaven-made_

_Nemuri ni ochiru…  
__Have one and fall asleep…_

* * *

**Do you hate it? Love it? Want to kill me with a chainsaw? Please let me know, so that I can improve my writing^^ That's really important to me...**

**I don't know why, but I like Maki :D Do you know Mello from Death Note? Yep, she's got that awesome haircut (my third OC with dirty-blond hair and that haircut O_o)**

**Should I put a crappy poem at the beginning of every chapter (even if it may contains spoilers)...? Maybe. Maybe not. Be prepared for the poem of hell. *cue dramatic soundtrack***

**Megaphone. Kills. You.**


	2. Freak Show!

**And we have the second chapter for Trick or Treat! **

**Took me a while to write it and I'm still not completely satisfied with the way it turned out, but I think you'll like it :3 Or, at least, I hope you'll like it...**

**As for the poem...Beware of the poem of hell!**

**I want to thank:**

**Kagamine-Rin14**

**Tweaked-uniquness**

**AngleWalker**

**and**

**Iwa-chan**

**for reviewing and I want to thank the ones who favorited/alerted this story! Thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter.2: Freak show!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

_"Why am I here? What do you want?"_

_"I don't want to be lonely, and that way I won't."_

_"Why did you pick me? What have I done?"_

_"You came to me, and now we are one."_

_"What if I don't want to stay, what if I run away?"_

_"Then I don't care, I need you, so you'll better stay."_

_"What happens if I don't? What will you do?"_

_"When you go...Hm...You don't want to become our dinner, do you?"_

**.**

**.**

**.**

As the fragile looking girl dragged the unmoving body behind her, she hummed a happy tune.

She was slightly scared for the boy, though.

Her master was picky and time had made him cold-hearted.

A sigh escaped her lips. Sometimes he acted like a little, spoiled child.

A pretty cute, little, spoiled child, though.

* * *

Inside of his dream, Deidara was standing alone at the beginning of a long path. Big, ancient trees grew on both of its sides, their branches building a thick web of wood over his head.

Somewhat fearful he went down the road, stumbling over roots and his own feet the whole time.

When he forgot to stop his fall with his arms, he crashed face first into the mud. He felt tears burning in the corners of his eyes and he swallowed down the sob that formed in his throat, threatening to erupt.

He was so exhausted...

The urge to just stay there, with his face in the mud, his long hair sprawling around him, was stronger than ever.

To lie down and die.

To give up.

"Hey, Deidara, why are you lying around here?"

"Yeah, get up! The real Deidara would never give up!"

"Deidara-senpai! Come and join us!"

Surprised, he lifted his face of the ground and studied the trio in front of him with his azure eyes. His heart jumped in his chest and a nice and warm feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

A hand was offered and he gladly allowed it to pull him off the ground.

His friends were smiling at him and he smiled back at them.

And as they stood there, the sun rose, illuminating them in a golden light. There were no more trees.

Everything was alright; everything was fine.

The bad things were gone.

If only he had known that he was blindfolded, tied and a creepy, insane girl was dragging him across an expensive, polished floor.

_Gensou no saimin ni oboreta mama de ii  
__But they're only good if you're surrounded by illusions_

_mekakushi wo hazushicha omoshiroku nai desho  
__When you take the blindfold off, there's no more__ pleasant creation_

_s__ashimoto gochuui sono te wa boku ga hiku kara  
__You will see that your hands are tied and bound, dragging at my heels_

_sono mi wo ima sugu ni  
__So right away_

_Yudanenasai sa__a  
__Entrust yourself to me_

* * *

When Deidara regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that he couldn't see anything. Out of an instinct, he tried to reach for the cloth that covered his eyes, but he found out that his hands were tied.

His body reacted almost immediately.

Adrenaline flooded in his blood that his heart pumped through his veins at an unhealthy pace. In this moment, only one feeling was present, dominating his body and every thought.

_Fear._

He struggled against the ties, yet it was futile. He wanted to scream, and as he had predicted, a tape was covering his mouth, silencing every sound he may have tried to make.

Then the pictures of his dream reappeared, strangely soothing him. Maybe a side-effect of the drug.

His ears told him that somebody had entered the room and was coming to him. The steps were light; he had to concentrate on them. His clouded mind was making it hard to focus and the fact that his world was spinning, even though he couldn't see anything, was not helping at all.

He took a sharp intake of air through his nostril, as he felt two arms wrap awkwardly around his torso and his shoulders stiffened. It took him a while to realize that the person was hugging him.

Maki's dead voice spoke to him.

"Sssh, Deidara-chan. Shush now; you'll be alright..." she muttered into his ear. The warmth of her arms disappeared and the still drugged boy felt her small hands running through his long, blond tresses.

"You have very pretty hair! It's so silky and smooth!" Maki commented and started combing his hair.

Then silence fell between them. Slowly, the drowsiness left his system, yet the feeling of contentment lingered and calmed him down.

That was strange; normally, in a situation like that, Deidara tended to blow up. Hell, he had lost it for far more unimportant reasons!

Suddenly he heard the snap of scissors and he felt how she started cutting his long hair. Hair that once almost reached his waist was cut to his shoulder blades.

He winced when the female behind him pulled some thick strands of golden-blond hair up in a ponytail. She explained "You'll have to look good for the others, don't you? I'm positive that they'll like you! Oh, look at that! It's almost dinner time! We've got to hurry up, Deidara-chan, or we'll be late!"

He couldn't do much against her in his current state, so he let her lift him of the floor. She held his hand in hers, leading him all the way through the corridors of Akasuna Manor.

How did all of this happen?

A few hours ago, he had been talking and joking around with his friends and now he was held captive by psychos.

And what for?

For a voice, a simple song.

Was it worth the price?

* * *

There were five men sitting at a long table, some with impatient expressions and some not showing it at all.

Another male suddenly appeared in the room, taking a seat and announced "The food is now ready; the maids should serve it soon."

"Finally. I thought you would let us starve, Kisame." retorted one of them who absent-mindedly twirled a strand of his long, raven black hair around his finger.

"What's for dinner, anyways? It's not fish, is it?" piped up the man who was next to the raven. "Uhm..." Kisame grinned sheepishly, revealing rows of sharp, pointy teeth. The one who had posed the question groaned. "God dammit, can't we just ONCE eat something else?"

"Hidan, calm down. There's no need to scream." His neighbor tried to calm him down. "Besides, didn't you want to tell us something? You said it's important."

Hidan stopped his rant and smirked. Kisame and the others looked at him questioningly and expectantly. "You may not believe what I tell you, but it's true, I saw it with my own eyes!" the blonde started, but was interrupted by his neighbor on his right. "Come to the point."

"Sheesh, Kakuzu, you old grumbler! I was just trying to build up suspense, you asshole!"

"Well, you're only boring me to death with that crap."

"If that is so, then I'll just continue so you finally die and we can all be happy!"

Kakuzu was about to argue back, but he was stopped. "Hidan, Kakuzu, would you please stop that so that Hidan can finally tell us what so important is. I'm starving and I don't want to waste any more time."

Both men grumbled to themselves, then Hidan cleared his throat and said "Well, I saw Maki in the hallway and you know what? She had a human with her!"

That most definitely caught everybody's attention.

"She brought me some food?" questioned one with grass-green hair. **"Did they look delicious?" **he added.

Hidan shook his head at this. "Zetsu, you'd be _dead_ the second you'd try to do that. He's not food, okay?"

**"Then what is he, if I can't eat him?" **pouted Zetsu, feeling slightly neglected because he hadn't eaten a human for a while now.

"Hidan, are you trying to say that...?" the black-haired of the group asked with his voice monotone, is head slightly tilted to the right.

Hidan was enjoying his companions' attention and the smug smirk returned. "Maki said that he is the one. He heard it."

Silence.

"So I was right" stated the raven apathetically.

Kisame raised his eyebrows and seemed to be at a loss of words, just like the rest. The only person, who hadn't said anything since their cook Kisame had entered the room, rose from his seat and hissed in a snake-like manner "Are you sure? I hate it when that maid wastes my venoms."

"Well, I don't see a reason for her to lie."

"Maybe she's mistaken? Then _he_'s mad too and we have one maid less. And I'm going to kill this brat if he is useless" the man demurred and pulled out a sharp knife from his pocket.

"Look, Orochimaru, why are you always trying to destroy our good mood? We finally found the 'someone' and here you are, doubting it!"

_Itsukaraka ginen no ha ga miegakure suru  
__Sometimes we see the shine of doubt flickering on a double edged knife_

_Ai to iu menzaifu nado wa sonzai shinai to  
__A faultless love does not exist, there's no perfect feeling in this life_

Orochimaru scoffed and stated walking away. "I don't believe what I haven't seen with my own two eyes. Fools." Even though he muttered the last part, the blonde caught it and jumped up from his seat, almost throwing over the table. "WHAT WAS THAT, SNAKE-MAN?" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Before he could lunge at Orochimaru, four maids entered; three carrying plates with food, while the fourth one was Maki. A boy with blond hair was standing behind her, dressed in a black, loose shirt and jeans.

Everyone examined him in silence, then Kakuzu spoke to Maki. "Where have you found him? And when?" The girl smiled up to him and answered "I found him today at about midnight in the woods. He said he heard a voice. A voice that was singing."

"Are you sure? He could be insane and hears strange voices in his head at a regular basis for all we know" Orochimaru argued back.

A strange noise was made and everybody focused their attention once again at the boy who struggled against his ties again and seemed to shout out muffled insults.

"Well, isn't he a feisty one!" Hidan joked and dodged a blind kick that followed. He merely chuckled and stepped back so the others, who had formed a circle and were, some more some less, curiously trying to get a good view of the new arriver, could see the boy. Said boy had dropped to the ground and a shiver went down his spine, has he felt that he was trapped between the strangers and the wall.

The next one to come closer was Kakuzu. He narrowed his eyes and studied every detail of the blonde. With an approving grunt, he made space for the next one who was Orochimaru, or as Hidan liked to put it, Snake-man.

He was perhaps the most excited one of them, next to Zetsu who was probably hoping that _he_ wouldn't like him and give the kid to Zetsu to eat.

One by one, the five men come forward, grabbed his chin and painfully twisted his neck, so that they could see every detail of his face that wasn't covered by the blindfold and the duct tape.

The last one was the rather calm and silent raven. He did the same as his comrades, but suddenly halted. He pulled the victim's hands up for him to see and he dropped them as soon as he saw the palms.

"Hey, what's wrong?" questioned Kisame, peeking over the man's shoulder to look what was happening. The cook got annoyed when he didn't get an answer and turned the black-haired male to face him. What he didn't suspect was to see a slightly scared and thoughtful expression.

"I know him."

And all hell went lose.

* * *

In our world, there are only few rules everybody has to obey to.

The first rule is to stick together, to help people like you and give them a home.

Second is the rule to never go out to public and betray your kind.

Then there is the third rule, a rather 'new' one. If it is necessary, only kill people whose absence won't be reported to the police or leave family behind. Otherwise the rest is in danger of getting caught.

If the rest is in danger of getting caught, one must either sacrifice himself if it helps or find a new abode.

And one of the most important ones is: never get in contact with people who knew you once.

Ever.

You may be a threat to the rest.

-If any of the rules are broken, you're an outcast of the outcasts. And as good as dead. Break the rules and if your unlucky, the rest will have...'an old friend for dinner'.–

-Akasuna no Sasori-

* * *

Itachi had predicted the ruckus his statement caused.

Ignoring the questions that were thrown at him, he leaned over to the trembling teen in front of him and carefully peeled off the duct tape that covered his mouth.

The moment it was off, the kid opened his mouth to scream, but the black-haired man beat him to it.

"What's your name?" he asked with his dull voice.

"Deidara...my name is Deidara..."

Itachi nodded. By now, his comrades were silent again, watching the scene enfolding in front of them. Every single one of them had their eyes on him. Even Maki, who seemed just as shocked as the rest.

"So, Deidara. I'm going to ask you a few questions now. It would be better for you to answer."

The corners of Deidara's mouth twitched, signaling disapproval, but in the end, he swallowed and nodded.

The raven sighed one last for time before he started the interrogation and commanded "Maki. Take his blindfold off." "I am afraid I am not allowed to. Strict orders from my master" she rejected his demand.

At that, the blonde's head jerked up and he shouted "Master? Is this some kind of creepy sect or something like that?" "Don't worry, it's nothing like that! Maki's just crazy; ignore her! She's the only one who calls the leader her master!" Hidan replied rather loudly. This did apparently not ease the male's discomfort and did not calm him down at all. Kakuzu seemed to sense that and nudged Hidan's shoulder. "Not helping." he muttered.

The interrogator once again tuned out their voices, concentrating at the task at hand.

"Maki said you heard a voice in the forest when she met you. Say, was it singing a song? A sad one, maybe?"

After some time hesitating, Deidara responded "Yes".

"Oh, don't worry, we only have a few more questions." Itachi said, his features still calm, but he awaited the response anxiously. "Do you have any family left?"

The blonde shook his head no and tried to back a little away from his captor. Snickering was heard as the others laughed at his behavior.

"Are you a freak? Tell me."

At this, the prey clenched his fists and he looked quite angry. "Just tell us already! The food is getting cold!" shouted somebody who sounded awfully like Hidan, but tried to imitate Kisame.

"Okay, okay!" snapped Deidara. "I guess you could say so...My hair is long, usually longer than it is now, and..." A little pause in which he seemed to struggle with himself. "I am...obsessed with art, explosions and clay. Oh, and I tattooed two open mouths on my palms and a mouth on my chest that is sewed close."

Well, that was really not 'normal' behavior. He may not be a physical freak, but his mind was twisted enough for Itachi's liking. The others obviously agreed, because no one spoke up and said anything against it. "What do you think? Do you think that Itachi recognized him because of that?" Zetsu whispered to himself. "**Maybe. I don't care anyway**" his other side retorted.

"Very well." Now there was only one more question to go. Perhaps the most important one, at least, for the group. Neither Deidara nor the maids nor Mr. Akasuna would care.

Okay, the maids didn't count, considering that apart from Maki and the maid Usagi not a single one of them had a brain.

Itachi came a little closer, and the circle around the two of them got smaller. "Do you have any friends?" The words left his mouth a little too fast for his liking. It made him sound as if he was nervous, but luckily, no one cared nor noticed it, they were all too focused on the teen.

"No, I don't. Isn't that obvious?"

"He's lying." blurted out Maki, who for once sounded cold-hearted and serious, all her giddiness and childishness gone. "I'm pretty sure he was visiting friends in the woods. He seemed to be scared of forests at night."

"If that's so..." continued the green-haired man "You better answer honestly."

"I don't like it when those brats lie" added Orochimaru, who had his eyes wide open because of the excitement he felt.

Deidara was trembling by now, and he seemed to be torn between running away and lunging at his captors. He bit his lip, probably to keep his tongue from telling secrets it shouldn't.

As if that could protect him.

For a moment, the raven wished he could just take one of Orochimaru's venoms or take the stupid blindfold off, but he knew that this wouldn't end well. For both parties.

Thankfully, the persuading part was taken by the others.

"You can't protect them with silence!"

"It's too late for you to save them!"

"You don't want us to hurt them for your foolishness, do you?"

At snake-man's comment, the blond male gaped and spilled "I have three friends."

"See? That wasn't all that hard, was it?" Orochimaru exclaimed in a false, sickly-sweet voice and Itachi backed a little away, so that the older man could take over the interrogation. He watched as Deidara shook with fear and anger and as the other raven kneeled down in front of him. "We're almost done. Just tell us their names and you'll get something to eat. You must be hungry, no?"

A loud growl from the male's stomach was answer enough, though he still had some willpower left and refused to betray his friends in telling their names.

"Oh come on now! We just want to know their names, not kill them! **So hurry up already, you're not the only one who's starving here!**" exploded a grumpy Zetsu.

"Okay, okay, I get it!"the blond explosion-lover shouted back. "Their names are...Konan...Pain...and...Tobi."

* * *

"Tobi, there's someone for you on the phone."

Tobi turned around to see his foster-brother Sasuke with the phone in his hand. "Ah, thanks, Sasuke." As the stoic Uchiha went back to his room, the emotional Uchiha pressed his ear to the receiver and greeted the caller "Hello, Tobi Uchiha speaking!"

_"Tobi! It's me, Konan! Has Deidara, by any chance, called you?"_

Deidara-senpai? Was something wrong with him?

Now that he thought about it, ever since that evening, there hasn't been a single call from him, and he usually phoned all of them to wake them up...

"Nope, sorry Konan. Is there something wrong with him?" the masked teen said, now slightly worried.

_"I've tried to call him in the morning to check if he got home uninjured, but he didn't pick up and he hasn't been answering his phone all day! I'm just so worried..."_ answered the woman on the other end of the line with a sigh.

"That doesn't sound good. I'll come over as soon as I can!" exclaimed Tobi, hung up and ran into the living room, where his foster-mother Mikoto sat and read a book. She looked up to him, with a slightly confused look on her face, because of his sudden appearance. "Is there something you want, dear?" she questioned.

"I'm going over to Konan and Pain; I just wanted to say that I won't be home for dinner, maybe even for tomorrow's breakfast!"

And with that, he disappeared again, leaving a puzzled Mikoto behind.

He went to the door, put on his shoes on aand a warm jacket, before sprinting out of the mansion and down the road to the forest.

The sick feeling in his stomach that he had ever since he left his friend's house without Deidara, because he wanted to leave earlier, finally got overwhelming.


	3. Tobi is a good boy!

**So this is the third chapter for you!**

**I am quite content with this chapter (this does not include the poem, however...), even though there are no quots this time D: Sorry guys...Definitely next time.**

**This is the first chapter with Sasori and minimal PaiKo! Yay! There is also another OC, so if you want information about her, I got a some of her on my profil. I try not to make her a Mary-Sue! (She also has, like Maki, only a minior role in this story. A side-character.)**

**Yeah, and that was everything I have to say about this chapter. Beware the poem of hell. The Document Manager is trying to piss me off and isn't doing what it's supposed to do, so it could be that the first part of this chapter is a little different. Except for the crappy quality of the poem of course.**

**Thanks to **Iwa-chan **for reviewing^^**

**

* * *

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**Chapter 3: Tobi is a good boy!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

_A puppet cannot feel. It's a rule._

_There is nothing behind their glassy eyes._

_A puppet cannot love. Are just a collector's jewel._

_Their bodies made of wood, making the skin cold as ice._

_A puppet cannot feel. It's a rule._

_There's no blood, no body heat._

_A puppet cannot love. Are just a collector's jewel. _

_You can search for it, but you won't find a heartbeat._

_And here he is, the world's most talented puppeteer_

_The master of the puppets, being beautiful but bringing fear._

_He is consumed by sorrow and sadness, his art turned into an obsession._

_And so he turned himself into the crown jewel of his collection._

_But he could never become one of them, he isn't perfection._

_Oh my, his heart is beating right in his chest._

_No perfection._

_Not perfect._

_Not complete._

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Konan."

His call fell on deaf ears.

"Konan!"

Still nothing.

"Konan, listen to me!"

Her head snapped up and she almost dropped the piece of paper in her hands that was almost folded into an origami crane. Konan rearranged the paper flower in her hair and greeted the arriver. But it wasn't her usual, more cheerful and nice greeting. Her voice was completely void of any emotion and she wasn't even looking at him.

Next to her, with a quite impressive amount of paper cranes on his lap and apparently half-asleep, sat Pain in his armchair. He was absentmindedly playing with the little creatures of paper, with one of his hand supporting his head. He hadn't looked up when Tobi had called.

"I called him again. Nobody picked up" muttered the blue-haired woman, crushing the piece of paper in her hand. Tobi swallowed before he told them "I went to his apartment. Also nothing."

The words hung in the air, like a threat.

"Should we...call the police?" the Uchiha offered carefully, but got only a no as an answer, from both Pain and Konan.

"This is the second person disappearing in the woods at this time of the year..." mumbled the woman and finally looked her friend in the eye. He was about to ask who she meant, when he remembered. He had been seven years old at the time when it happened. "What if it was the same person who took Itachi away?"

Itachi Uchiha had disappeared about eleven years ago, a week before Halloween. His younger brother had followed him to the woods that night, where Itachi just suddenly vanished and never returned. Being the son of the police chef and a famous family, the search for him had been a big deal and had been even more intense than all other cases when a child disappeared, but they still remained futile. No one in the Uchiha family had been the same after that.

Tobi quickly dismissed it. "Konan, don't be silly! It's probably just a coincident!" He laughed nervously.

...But he himself wasn't convinced.

"We're going to search for him on our own."

For the first time since Tobi arrived, the redhead spoke up. His eyes were now open and he stood up (but not without putting the paper cranes on the little coffee table). "No offense to your family, but I don't trust them" he reasoned. The female of the group followed his example and grabbed her dark blue coat. While putting it on, she asked "Are you going to join us?"

Searching for Deidara on their own...that was dangerous and it was almost night time, Tobi knew that. But...it was for senpai, wasn't it? Still, he was torn between the two options. What was he supposed to do?

He felt the stares of his friends on him and finally made a decision.

"Let's go and save Deidara-senpai!"

If anyone had looked back, they would've seen how two pieces of paper folded themselves into butterflies and disappeared with a flap of their papery wings in the pockets of the two males.

* * *

"Okay, Pain, you're looking for him in this part of the forest" she gestured towards the woods to her right "Tobi, you go left, and I'll search over here. We're going to meet here again in three hours, if not sooner. Understood?"

They nodded and pulled their coats a little tighter around their bodies. The sun was almost gone and the breeze of a late October evening was harsh and cold.

With a last reassuring look to their companions, they all went in different directions and the trees swallowed their forms.

* * *

"Alright."

Orochimaru straightened up and smirked in satisfaction. "Maki, would you bring a plate with food and a fork and a knife for our guest?"

The maid smiled and ran back into the kitchen with an "Of course!", while the brainless maids followed behind her and the men sat down at their respective seats again. Deidara remained silent and his head hung low in defeat. Some of the others threw the one or another curious look at him, but then reverted their attention back at the food. Hidan grimaced.

"The food's all cold!" he complained, but no one paid attention to him, so he simply continued to stab the fish on his plate with a fork.

Soon the blond girl came back and kneeled down in front of their prisoner and started feeding him, even though he tried to refuse nourishment.

When they all finished their meal (excluding Hidan who still mutilated the poor fish), a girl in a maid outfit and long, almost white hair suddenly burst into the room and shouted "We have a problem! One of the puppets reported strangers coming our way! They're still quite far away but they're coming nearer!"

At this, they exchanged confused looks, but got up anyway. The blonde artist who sat on the floor tried to stand up as well and a few by the tape muffled words passed his lips, but Maki quickly took care of him with the help of other maids who had entered the dining room.

"Come on, hurry up! Leave the rest to us maids; you guys just get into the room we have prepared, okay? Oh, and Hidan? You stay here with us."

Said man cursed, while Kakuzu and one of the Zetsus snickered at him, and got out of the way as his comrades left silently.

"That's unfair! Why is it always me?"

The woman next to him sighed annoyed and facepalmed. "We already explained it about hundreds of times! You and Itachi are the only ones who look almost perfectly normal, and we can't keep him here, because he was quite famous in his other life! And it's not often that someone comes here so stop complaining, will you!"

Hidan muttered a few more colorful words under his breath and watched the brainless puppets as they cleaned up the dirty plates and threw away his food. Kakuzu would probably bitch at him later for wasting it.

"Okay, you know what you have to do, Hidan?"

* * *

"It's cold in here."

"**Stop complaining.**"

"But it's freaking cold!"

"**If you don't shut up we'll get caught!**"

They all did different things to kill time until they could leave the small, cold room. Zetsu argued with himself, Kakuzu counted his money (even though you could only see little because of the darkness) from the sounds of it, Kisame was asleep, Orochimaru talked quietly with one of his pet-snakes, Deidara was ...well, breathing, and Itachi simply waited and inspected his fingernails without being able to see anything.

Whenever people from outside entered the mansion, they had to get into this room and wait until the intruders were gone. Once it had taken almost a whole day until they could leave again.

Suddenly an elbow hit Itachi right into the rips. A bit irritated, he met the face of the attacker. Or, what he could see of it. "Hey!" That was Kisame's raspy voice.

"Itachi!"

Not feeling like answering, the raven remained silent. The hit had really hurt.

"Itachi!"

...

"Hey, Itachi!"

...

"Stop pouting, you sissy!"

"For god's sake, what do you want from me, Kisame?" he finally snarled. The shark-like man backed a little away from him and with his eyes which had adapted to the darkness he could see that the fellow freak had a grin stretched over his whole face.

Then Itachi noticed that there was something wrong with his vision. He tilted his head to the side and pointed at his eyes. In return, the grin of Kisame's face (if that was physically possible) grew and his snickering filled the stuffy air.

He blinked until his vision was back to normal and muttered when the laughter subsided "So, what do you want, Kisame?"

"You haven't told us yet how you know this kid over there."

The raven remained silent. He didn't know how he could tell them without revealing too much. Suddenly, he had an idea. "I'll show you as soon as we go somewhere where it's bright" he whispered.

"Why don't you just show us now?" questioned their cook (who obviously forgot the rule to be quite while hiding) and he took something out of the pocket of his cloak.

A clicking noise was heard, and a small flame lit up the room. The thing the blue-haired man held in his hand was a lighter.

"Hey, where did you get that?" asked Zetsu who eventually got tired of arguing. "I stole it from Usagi during one of her breaks" declared Kisame proudly. "Anyway; come on Itachi, I'm waiting and I'm currently freezing my ass off so I could use a little distraction!"

With a sigh, the Uchiha pulled a small photograph from his pocket and held it near the flame, so that you could see what was on it.

It turned out to be a photo of four teenagers. At the right side of it stood a woman with a paper flower in her dark blue hair and a piercing through her bottom lip. She smiled at the camera and had her arm around a grumpy looking guy with flaming orange hair. His eyes were closed and he made an annoyed impression, and he had countless piercings that adorned his face and ears. In the middle of the picture stood a person with short black hair and a mask hid his face. He gave the peace-sign.

The most interesting person (for the group) was the blonde.

* * *

He had been wandering through the forest for a while now without seeing...well anything. All he could see were the ancient trees on either side of the road and his own breath.

Suddenly, he stumbled over a root or something (which most likely were his feet) and he did something he almost never did. He cursed.

His mask had fallen off from the impact and now lay several feet away. He hurried over to it, picked it up and put it back on his face. A few leaves were sticking to the orange material, blocking his view and he carefully removed them.

What he then saw made him forget how to breathe.

The building in front of him stood tall and proud, the high stone walls looking indestructible and he was pretty intimidated. He had never known that there lived other people in the forest...and that deep in the woods.

Tobi buried his hands deep in his pockets. Light was seeping through a few windows, illuminating the trees in a ghostly light. He was tempted to turn his back to the house and run away, but maybe its occupants had seen Deidara...

Then his fingers felt something. He pulled it out and looked at it. It was one of Konan's paper butterflies. 'When did she...?' he thought, but focused back on the task at hand. He held his hand protective around the little creature, even though he was the one who needed protection. The thought of his friends helped him working up all of his courage to go to the front door and knock.

The sound seemed to echo in his ears and he almost turned to run away when he heard footsteps coming his way. It was too late for running away now.

The door opened and revealed a woman with long, almost white hair. She wore a black shirt and black pants. She had a kind face (although there were dark bags under her eyes) and she smiled at him. "Oh, hello! I wasn't expecting any visitors!" she greeted him. "So, what is it that you want?"

His brain delivered the best excuse he could think of right now. "I got lost in the woods and I am a little thirsty..." Her smile fell and she took his hand in hers. "You poor boy! Come in! You shouldn't wander in the forest at this time! It's almost night time! My name is Usagi, by the way! And yours?"

"My name is Yahiko" (he had to make sure to apologize to Pain later) he introduced himself and followed behind Usagi. Just before he was inside, he glanced at a small label next to the door.

"Akasuna Manor" stood there.

The Uchiha stepped into the hallway and searched for the woman, but instead saw a man coming through a door. "Oh, we have a guest?" he questioned with a smirk on his face. Something about this man scared Tobi.

Maybe it was his smirk, the look in his eyes, the strange necklace, or even his pale skin. Something deep inside of the young man cowered in fear, while there was something else that laughed at the stranger. This was what Tobi scared.

"That's Tobi, Hidan. He's just thirsty. I'll give him something to drink" announced Usagi and hurried into a room Tobi assumed was the kitchen. "If that's so..." Hidan glanced at the dark haired boy again, before he too disappeared into the kitchen.

The usually cheerful teen allowed himself to let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He anxiously waited for the host to return and as to reassure himself, he touched the butterfly in his pocket.

* * *

Konan suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

A shiver had crept down her spine and a picture of Tobi flashed before her eyes. For a moment, she was scared, but it didn't feel as if the feeling belonged to her. It was as if it was somebody else's feelings...

Then it was suddenly gone and the woman was left to wonder what just happened.

She looked back at the path she'd taken so far and she stared up to the darker growing sky.

"Tobi...?"

She ran back.

* * *

Usagi reappeared and gave him a half-full glass of water. He accepted it with a small thank you and was about to drink when he realized something.

He quickly turned his face away from the woman, shoved the mask up just enough so that his mouth was uncovered and drank as fast as he could. When he was ready, he readjusted his mask and faced Usagi again who stared at him with a slightly surprised expression.

To his relief she didn't ask any questions and just explained him how to get back to Konoha from here.

He thanked her and left the house.

Tobi was sure that he could've done more, that he had been close to Deidara here, but he couldn't do this alone.

Maybe Konan or Pain knew something more about this 'Akasuna Manor'. He had to get to their house as fast as possible and tell them what he had found here in the woods.

But before that, he sighed in relief and leaned against the door.

He had overcome his fears, he hadn't run away. And he knew who this house belonged to.

With an unseen smile on his lips, he broke into a run back to his other friends.

'Tobi is a good boy!'

* * *

Somewhere in Akasuna Manor, there was a hidden room on its highest floor. In this room, there was nothing but a small window, a secret door and a chair to sit on.

In this chair sat a person.

His eyes were closed, as if he was sleeping and his blood-red, curly hair fell into his face. His body, dressed in a black cloak, was completely still, except for the rising and falling of his chest.

His lips parted a bit and a melody filled the air around him.

He was so, so tired...

The person opened his eyes and revealed dull, grey orbs.

It was almost time. If his soul mate wasn't found soon, he'd be alone for yet another year.

The door he had made sure to hide opened and a girl with dark blond hair entered his room. Her eyes didn't tell him what she thought, but he knew that she would tell him anyway.

Would it be good news?

She bowed to him and stayed like that until he called her name.

"Maki..."

The maid raised her head and smiled up to him. She saw the look in his eyes and nodded.

"We've found him. I'm sure."

* * *

Konan was the first one to arrive at home. She pulled out her key, unlocked the door and went into the kitchen to prepare some tea for her friends. She accidently knocked over a glass and for the first time she noticed that her hands were shaking, but not because of the cold.

Her eyes threatened to spill over with tears and she angrily whipped them away, but she couldn't do anything against the trembling. Her body shook with unshed tears and fears.

She just wanted them to return to her, safe and uninjured.

The woman took a few shaky breaths, before she finally calmed down enough to continue with her task.

Why was she so scared anyway?

She filled four cups with the liquid.

She dropped a sugar cube into hers, three into Tobi's, none in Pain's and a single one in Deidara's. But something told her that the last one was wasted.

The last thought scared her and she pushed it aside.

After she'd taken of her coat and her shoes, she went to the kitchen's window and stared into the dark. It got dark early these days.

She couldn't tell how long she'd waited, standing there motionless, her hands shaking slightly.

When she spotted the person who stepped out of the forest, her heart jumped in her chest and she hoped for another shadow to appear.

Yet the silhouette remained alone and as the light that seeped through her window hit the stranger's face, she recognized the countless piercings, the emotionless expression and the flaming orange hair.

Despite being bare foot, she ripped open the front door and ran towards the figure, ignoring the pain that pierced through her feet like little knifes.

As soon as she reached the young man, she trapped him in a tight embrace. He hesitatingly returned the gesture and she slowly calmed down. His steady heartbeat was hypnotizing and she realized how tired and cold she was. And how hard her own heart slammed against her ribcage as if it tried to escape.

Eventually she let go of him. Pain asked her if she found anything and she shook her head no. Their search had been futile. Now it was up to Tobi.

The two waited outside silently with their eyes directed at the third road that lead deeper into the woods. Seconds passed by, turned in minutes and in the end they spent a whole hour out in the cold. Konan was freezing; her lips were turning blue already, when the redhead suddenly perked up his head. "You hear that?"

There it was. It sounded like somebody was coming towards them, and finally the figure of Tobi emerged from the trees. Alone.

If she was disappointed? Sad? She didn't know.

For a second, she was perfectly content with knowing that the Uchiha was alright.

This time, it was her who got hugged.

"Konan!" he exclaimed. "I didn't find Deidara, but something else!"

He sounded really excited, so it had to be something important, right? The blue-haired female took a step back, while her other childhood friend came closer. The black-haired teen hesitated for a moment. "Did you know that there were other people living here in the forest?"

What? "No, we didn't" stated Pain, his grey eyes staring intensely at the mask-wielder.

"Well, there are. I'm pretty sure that there was a label next to the door..."

"And what did it say?"

Tobi remained silent for a moment, before announcing "It said 'Akasuna Manor'."

The two males turned their heads to their female counterpart when she took a sharp breath. "Konan?" questioned Pain and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

All color was drained out of her face and she bit her bottom lip.

"Did you say...Akasuna?"


	4. Akasuna no Sasori!

**God, this was supposed to be uploaded yesterday (a.k.a. HALLOWEEN.) but thanks to annyoing siblings, I didn't make it D: Oh well.**

**I hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter. I have the feeling that the chapters get worse and worse with every update...  
In this chapter, I didn't like the reason why Konan knows the name Akasuna and a few other things. I guess I just wasn't in the mood for writing this. I listend too often to unfitting music xD Does anyone of you know the game Beyond Good & Evil? I was listening to the song that plays at the Mammago Garage :D (And yes, it is legal for people to like BOTH Vocaloid AND the Mammago Song (hey, that sounds funny!) Because I know people who are all like "Uh, that music is crap, I hate it, Reggae is way better!" "Nooo, Vocaloid is better! Reggae is so stupid!" and so on. I don't care which kind of music I'm listening to, it just has to be GOOD.)**

**ANYWAYS. (Sorry for rambling...)**

***SPOILER-ALERT* Yep, I decided to put chakra into this story to make everything more "realistic" (.ha.), and for the same reason, Konan can not turn herself completely into paper, Kakuzu is only going to have 2 hearts instead of five and Zetsu doesn't have his freaky giant Venus flytrap. And the Rin'negan is also not going to be that powerful in this story. Sorry guys. Shame on me. And Kakashi has no chakra AT ALL! XD I don't really know why though. It could be because I don't like him or because he just fit the role as our author in my head O_o *SPOILER-ALERT***

**One last thing to say for the story: Should I write a One-Shot concerning the OCs Maki and Usagi? Because I got a whole background-story for them that I don't really want to put in this story...So yeah. Tell me if you want to know something about them or not.**

**Thanks to **Iwa-chan **for reviewing ^_^**

**Be aware of the poem of hell, and enjoy!**

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**Chapter.4: Akasuna no Sasori!**

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_Have you ever wondered who lives deep down in the woods?_

_And I don't mean grandmas of random red little riding hoods._

_Maybe we're the people who you pass on the street_

_Or maybe the ones who you daily greet?_

_We're not like you, not like anyone_

_Have been ever since we've been born._

_We're all around, just in hiding_

_Just in disguise so you won't see_

_We're dark and evil beings_

_You better believe me._

_We are the freaks_

**.**

**.**

**.**

Tobi blinked a few times before the information of what she'd said sunk into his mind. When he did, he nodded quickly. "Yes I did! You don't happen to know them, do you?"

"You idiot. Of course she does." stated Pain, his eyes not leaving Konan's face. The Uchiha lowered his head and muttered an "Of course..." Though no one could see it, his eyes saddened and the happiness about his little success that had lasted till now was gone.

The female had hurried over to a shelf and was searching through the rows of books by the time Tobi looked up.

"What are you looking for, Konan?" asked the redhead leaning over to look at the titles of the novels too. It took Konan a while to reply, for she pulled out a big and heavy looking book. There was a bit of dust covering it, but the woman quickly blew it away and traced the title of the book with her finger tips. Both males tried to take a look at it, but to their surprise, she hugged it to her chest and turned a little away from them with a scolding look on her face.

"Do you remember this old lady who came to our orphanage once, Nagato?"

Said man flinched at the mention of his true name, but almost immediately recovered and nodded. "Wasn't she the one who recognized you as her granddaughter?" he added.

A distant expression appeared on her face and a smile graced her lips. "Exactly. She was too old to bring me up by herself and she was my only relative left, so I stayed where I was. But she visited me every week and always praised my art. She believes in fantasy creatures and stuff like that and gave me this book for my last birthday. I always thought that it was a waste of time, but I read a few pages here and there."

Tobi put two and two together. "Ah-ha! And in this book you found the name Akasuna!"

"I did. I still remember reading the name."

"...This makes no sense, Konan. You told me that this book is completely ridiculous, yet Akasuna is an existent name and those guys probably kidnapped Deidara."

Ignoring Pain, Konan carried the book into the living room, with her friends trailing after her, laid it onto the table and kneeled down on a pillow. The other two followed suit and moved closer to her to get a good view of the old book.

Eagerly, Tobi read the letters imprinted on the front. 'Freaks: basic knowledge'. Not exactly an encouraging title...

"Then shall we...?"

She readjusted the flower in her hair and skipped the introduction of the book.

The first actual page's heading confused all three of them.

'CHAKRA'

* * *

The redhead just stared at the girl in front of him for a while. Too many things were going through his head. Finally he took a deep, shaky breath and impatiently questioned "He's here? Then why didn't you bring him to me?"

Maki sighed (like a mother would whose child was begging her to buy sweets) and she explained "The venom in the cinnamon worked better than I had thought it would."

His icy glare bore into her dark eyes and he could see the rush of fear reflected in those usually dead orbs. She quickly put her hands in front of her in a defending manner. "N-Nothing happened he's perfectly f-fine; he just slept a little longer...!" He extended his hand and his fingers closed themselves into a fist, like grabbing something invisible.

"Bring him to me, Maki...now."

The maid took a careful step back. "Please, just wait a little longer. He still needs to recover...And it's still a week, anyway! You'll have enough time to get to know him!"

The familiar smile appeared on her face.

The man placed his hand back on his lap, his other hand supporting his head and weaving through his red hair. The feelings of impatience and anticipation were strong, too strong, but he knew what would happen if his guest would get ill.

"He needs the rest..."

...

"I'll wait..."

"Thank you, Sasori-sama" Maki whispered.

* * *

Deidara remained perfectly still in his corner.

He quietly observed his current situation, trying hard not to move.

The ropes that tied his wrists together started to cut into his flesh and anger filled his heart.

There hadn't been another drug in his food (or at least it didn't work this time) and the duct tape was gone, but he still couldn't do anything useful. He was incapable of doing something right. He remembered a policeman telling his class the rules one should stick to while being kidnapped. "Don't anger your captors!" he'd said once.

The blonde could hear the strangers discussing something, could see the little light source through the fabric of the blindfold and he could distinguish the different voices and could name two of them. The deep, rather loud and raspy voice belonged to someone called Kisame, the hissing one to a man named Orochimaru. In total, there were six persons with him in this little room.

And they were talking about him.

Fear mixed with his anger and his breathing became a little irregular.

Their whispers filled his ears, echoing inside his head, so he couldn't understand what they were saying. Was this an after-effect of the drug?

He wrinkled his nose. The fold over his eyes tickled.

Suddenly, without a warning, the knot that held the blindfold in place loosened a bit and a gap to see through appeared.

For a second, just a second, his right eye was blinded by the in reality rather poor light. It stung and he had to close his eye for a moment. The artist blinked a few times. As soon as his eye had adapted to the brightness, he looked down his body first.

As far as he could see, he was unharmed, save for the drug and the ties around his wrists.

Then he raised his head to take a look at his captors, illuminated by the light of a flame.

He bit his lip until it bled to keep a scream form escaping his throat.

_Mekakushi no sukima kara nozokimita RANTAN ga_

_Through a hole in the blindfold, there was something I thought I'd never see_

_Utsushi dashita kage ni omowazu_

_Lantern shadows that grew at night _

_mi no ke ga yodatta_

_unconsciously frightened me_

* * *

CHAKRA

As I already mentioned in the introduction, the term 'Freak' is different from the common meaning of Freak. A Freak is not just somebody with an uncommon appearance or behavior (though quite a lot of Freaks fulfill this cliché). Normal people lack something those Freaks have and this is what distinguishes them. It's a certain power, which often runs in families and is passed from generation to generation.  
Experts such as me, and also the freaks themselves, call this power chakra.

So called Keirakurai are found in the body of a freak and can be compared to the bloodstream. Chakra can be compared to blood as well; if a person loses too much of it, they die. The Keirakurai lead the chakra through the body. Not much is known of them.

Not is the chakra only crucial to survive, but it also allows a person who posses it to use certain techniques - jutsus.  
The usage of chakra in certain ways allows a person for example to walk up a tree (though I believe that this also works with walls) without the usage of hands or other tools. It seems to be a basic technique, for I trice saw a child practicing it. I am an outsider who himself does not possess this chakra, and the few Freaks willing to give me information refused to tell me much about the different jutsus, but I was able to take a few photos.

Even after six years that I spent with collecting information, I neither know where this mystic power comes from, nor just **how** strong and destructive it really is.  
Fact is, that chakra is a supernatural power and can cause a lot of harm.

-Kakashi H.-

* * *

The three persons stared at the page without saying a word. Silent understanding.

Pain wasn't sure what to think of this text. Supernatural powers? How old were they? There was nothing such as supernatural powers.

...Or was there?

Maybe he just didn't want to believe that a part of his 'family' was held captive by those Freaks. (Freaks with supernatural powers.)

This was just ridiculous. It was impossible.

_It couldn't be, couldn't be, couldn't be._

Without casting a glance at his friends who still seemed to be shocked by the information (or fiction) they'd just read, he turned the page. The following three pages' content consisted of an index and he quickly searched through it.

Surprisingly, he found the word Akasuna only connected with another word.

**M**

-Marionettes (also: The story of the Akasuna family)

Konan, Tobi and Pain exchanged a confused look. Silent understanding.

* * *

The blood pouring out of the fresh gash trailed down his chin and the pain accompanying it were completely ignored.

Deidara's undivided attention was focused on the group of strangers. The light was just enough to make their faces visible.

And he realized one thing.

There were only five people, but SIX voices.

The one closest to him had black hair that fell to his shoulders and when he turned around once to get a better look at whatever they were watching, the blonde realized with horror that there were scars at the corners of his mouth and scars on his exposed arms that were sewed together, as if somebody had cut the man to pieces and then put together again.

A sick feeling settled in Deidara's stomach and he hoped that he wouldn't throw up.

Next to the scar-face sat a man with also black hair, but his was way longer and probably reached his waist. A snake had wrapped around the man's upper body and the similarity the guy bared to the animal was frightening.

The salty and at the same time sweet taste of blood filled the artist's mouth, but he knew they would notice if he moved.

The person with the light source – a lighter which he held close to a photograph of some sorts – turned out to be a grotesque mixture between man and shark. With the yellow light of the flame, it was hard to make out colors, but Deidara was sure that the man's hair was a dark blue, and his skin a lighter one. It was the person with the raspy voice, the explosion-lover noticed. Kisame. Kisame had gills on his cheeks. And when he grinned once, he revealed rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Why was Deidara getting the feeling that something here was awfully wrong with those people? (And he didn't mean the fact that they had kidnapped him)

One of the group was hidden by the photo in their hands. Only the top of their head and their hands were visible, the purple nail polish suggesting that the person was a woman. She was the quietest of them, her voice barely audible when she spoke.

Was this a photo of Deidara? What did those people want from him? And what did they know about him?

The last stranger stood out because of his grass-green hair. From what the blond teen could see through the gap, his skin was extremely pale, almost white, and his eyes seemed to be a dark yellow.

And that was the moment Deidara had to accept the fact that he was indeed stuck in a room filled with Freaks.

* * *

Marionettes (or: the story of the Akasuna family)

On my travels, I discovered in a city called Sunagakure a family with remarkable abilities. Through them, I first heard that some Freaks are able to control puppets with their chakra by using it as threads. I spent some time with this family and they told me a very interesting story about their ancestors that I'd like to share with you readers.

The family was called Akasuna and their members were the best puppeteers the world had ever seen. The story I am about to tell you took place about 145 years ago.

Back then, the best puppeteers of the family were a woman called Chiyo and her grandson Sasori. Akasuna no Sasori was only six years old when he started to look at what he did as art. That was quite common among children of their family, but with the death of his parents, it turned more and more into an obsession. By that time, he had already surpassed his grandmother Chiyo in skills and, completely consumed by his grotesque obsession, he developed a forbidden jutsu.

He tested it on several other humans before actually used it on himself.

Chiyo never told the rest of her family what had happened to Sasori, so I'm afraid I can't tell you as well, since after the incident, she disappeared and nobody knows (though maybe they just didn't want to tell me) where she was. Or better yet, where she _is_.

-Kakashi H.-

* * *

Several minutes had passed since Deidara had first seen the Freaks and the bleeding had stopped, just like the discussion of the freaks.

His body was sore from the uncomfortable position he was in and the strange mixture of anger, fear and the drug (mostly anger) hurt his head. But he almost wasn't really aware of all that. He was too busy with watching every movement of these strange people.

The only woman in the group sighed quietly, and she finally put down photo and the light hit her face.

Yes, the hair was longer than most men's' hair, and yes, the eyes were quite feminine, but this was most definitely NOT a woman.

The blond boy knew this face. Every time he'd be at Tobi's and accidentally open the door to Sasuke's bedroom, the face of this person was the first thing he'd see. And also in the living room were photos of this person.

He looked a little older now, which was not that surprising, considering that eleven years had passed.

A gasp escaped Deidara's lips as he recognized Itachi Uchiha's face.

And that obviously was a mistake, because the whole group turned around and looked at him.

Scar-face was the first one to react. "F*ck. He saw us!"

"I thought Maki had put something in his food. He shouldn't be awake right now." said Itachi and furrowed his eyebrows. "Orochimaru, do you have the venom with you?"

_Oya oya warui ko mou omezame desu ka_

_My, my well what a wicked child, you barely slept a wink at all!_

"What are we going to do now?" grumbled the green-haired man.

_Mekakushi ga toketa nara moumoku ni shiyou ka_

_If the blindfold keeps coming off, then shall I blind you instead?_

"We wait, isn't that obvious? The damage is already done" hissed Orochimaru and ran a hand through his long hair. "We'll wait."

* * *

Maki had waited a few more minutes until she was sure that the intruder was far away from her home and wasn't intending to come back, before she made her way down the stairs.

After opening a few hidden doors and walking down dark corridors, she finally reached the room she'd been looking for.

She knocked against the old wood, and stepped into the room.

The girl frowned when she spotted the lighter in Kisame's hand, recognizing it as the one Usagi had been looking for.

Nobody was allowed to steal things from Usagi. Maki would make sure of that.

With a quick movement, she snatched it away from him and shoved it into one of the pockets of her dress. She looked at the group in front of her with an apathetic expression and ignored the glare coming from the shark-man's direction.

"You can come out now. Did something happen?" she inquired while watching Itachi, knowing that he was the most likely to answer truthfully. His face was perfectly calm, but she noticed that the others seemed to be a little stressed.

When her eyes however reached Deidara's face, her face fell back into the frown. She hurried over to the male and took his face in both her hands and inspected his bottom lip carefully. To her relief, it was just a smaller wound that would heal soon, nothing too serious.

Unsurprisingly, Deidara still tried to struggle against the ties and he didn't seem to be OK with her touching his face. Still, she looked more closely at his face, brushing the long blond tresses behind his ear. And finally she discovered the little gap between the folds of fabric.

That was not good.

Maki had done something wrong.

She'd indirectly disobeyed orders.

Sasori-sama had ordered her to make a tight knot in the fold, so that he'd be the first person the guest would see. And now Deidara had seen the others first.

The maid licked her dry lips and decided that maybe it was best to take the blindfold off now; she couldn't change the fact that something had went wrong now.

She rested her head on the boy's shoulder and reached for the lose knot to undo it completely.

The blue cloth fell down his face and revealed the two pretty blue orbs. What she hadn't expected was that Deidara was glaring at her. She was sure that a normal person would be scared in a situation like this.

So why not him?

'Then again' mused Maki 'he isn't normal. He could hear Sasori-sama sing without even knowing him. So they must be connected, no? And Karin...'

The blond male still hadn't spoken a single word. The fellow blonde was genuinely impressed and internally, she smiled for her master.

This was the right person.

For her, there was no doubt anymore.

'...and Karin said she'd felt chakra coming our way around midnight. That was him.'

Focusing back at the task at hand, she stood up again and dusted herself off before she took one of his hands and helped him up. She could feel his eyes burning through her, but she just felt like giggling (but she wouldn't). She was too happy for Sasori-sama now (not for herself).

Soon, he would stop singing.

The group followed behind as the female made her way back out of the labyrinth of underground corridors.

She heard Kisame and Itachi exchanging a few words, heard Deidara clenching his teeth, but she couldn't care less. It was her order to bring the blonde to his own personal room and get him to rest now. On the way there, the others went to their own respective rooms, but Maki noticed when Itachi whispered something to Deidara. She was tempted to ask what the Uchiha had said, but she simply dismissed it.

After a while, they reached their destination. Maki quickly took out a knife from her pocket and before the explosion-lover even had the chance to react, she cut the rope that tied his hands together.

She pushed him gently into the room. "You should rest now..." she advised, yet he didn't make a move to go to sleep.

For a moment, she could see all the questions that plagued him and she could see the fear, but as expected of a puppet, she remained silent. She closed and locked the door and left him standing there alone in the dark.

"Sleep. Tomorrow will be a important day for you..."

For a while, Maki wandered through the mansion and noticed that Usagi had already gone home. So she decided to go to sleep as well. As quietly as she could, she went back to the guest's room and leaned her head against the door.

* * *

The blindfold was gone and with it the pleasant creations in his dreams.

It was pitch-dark and all he could see was a blurry image of a face and a hand reaching out for him.


	5. Hearts!

**I know, it's been a while and I'm terribly sorry for the long (even for me) delay.**

**Actually, I had finished this chapter almost a month ago or so, but I hadn't saved and then my sister simply exited word and, like always, IGNORED the warning that there was still a text that wasn't saved YET. Seriously, I sometimes hate sharing the laptop with her. Seriously. **

**So, I'm now done with excuses, and now, something about the chapter...for once, I'm happy with the poem. For the onces who don't get the 'son' part, priests sometimes say 'son' to a person, don't they? I wanted to you get the feeling...you see, I associate priests with vampires and the like ever since I started reading Hellsing by Kohta Hirano -.-' Aaaand, there is something from another VOCALOID song in it as well, and it's pretty damn obvious, which part of the poem it is. **

**By the way, this chapter has over 5,000 words, which really surprised me. **

***Spoiler-Alert for the 5th chapter* Dramatic first Saso-Dei encounter! Kinda lame, but hey, I tried my best!**

**You may be wondering, why there is so much Itachi and Sasuke in this chapter. The answer is: I need them both for the plot. And I really like them. Them same goes for Sakura. So I apologize to all Sasuke-, Itachi- and Sakura-haters. But I like them.**

**Fun facts about this chapter:**

**-When Sasuke is talking about 'hell', he means...dudududum, THERAPY. Why he had to go to therapy will be explained in later chapters, but one time was because he said some strange things about Itachi's disappearance and the police thought he had some kind of trauma. **

-**If you didn't figure it out, Itachi got Kisame to shut up with the Mangekyou-Sharingan.**

**I am proud to say that this story has now reached over ten Reviews, which is really damn awesome! Thank you guys for the support :D**

**Thanks to **

This-is-Blasphemy

kichikoneko

Marei-chan

Hinata28h (The reason why I chose Pain is partially because Nagato wasn't looking creepy enough, and because I had to keep picture 'Pain' while writing this)

Iwa-chan

**for being awesome and review!**

**(And the poll on my profile for which story I should write next is STILL open, so please vote ^_^ ) **

**Ente of Author's Note.**

* * *

**Chapter.5: Hearts!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

_You're looking for a reason, _

_Oh, but you won't find one_

_You're looking for a way to escape_

_Oh, but there is none_

_Leave it all behind you, my son_

_Forget all the horrors, the fear too,_

_Oh, be warned, salvation doesn't last long_

_Kagome, kagome, who stands behind you?_

**.**

**.**

**.**

Kekkai Genkai

I found out some time ago that not only chakra is inheritable, but also special abilities. Some are stronger than others, and some are more useful in daily life than others.

The abilities the people inherit from their parents or other family members in previous generations are called Kekkai Genkai.

Chakra can be divided into five different elements (see also: Elements) and the person in possession of a Kekkai Genkai can create 'new' elements. Let's take the members of a family I know as an example. They are capable of combining the wind and the water element, which results in the ice element, Hyoton.

This is probably the most 'common' version (two elements combined creating a new one), but there are some Kekkai Genkai that influence the body as well. The Dou-jutsu are one of those. Dou-jutsu and all other Kekkai Genkai can't be taught to others, because Kekkai Genkai are, without any exceptions, a part of the DNA. While being activated, the eye color of the person who uses it usually changes, though that's not necessarily a rule.

Kekkai Genkai can appear in many different shapes, so it's probably impossible for me to find all.

-Kakashi H.

* * *

He sat on his bed, carelessly wrapped into his blanket, ready to pretend to be sleeping, if someone decided to check on him. Sasori's puppets had the really annoying tendency to do just that in the middle of the night. (Of course, Sasori was an excellent puppeteer, but even he couldn't stop them from doing it which frustrated him and everyone else in the household.)

With his eyes wide open, he listened closely to the sound of a pair of feet walking over the polished floor. The man lowered his head on his pillow and tried to slow down his breathing a bit. It was easy to fool them, but he couldn't afford to get caught, so he stayed there motionless. Only the sound of his breathing, the two feet and the loud snoring from the room next to his were heard.

A door was ripped open, and a slight smirk graced his lips as Kisame groaned loudly from being woken up. A few moments later, the door to his own room was opened and a candle lit up his dark room.

As soon as the puppet retreated to wake the next poor Freak, the raven detangled himself from the sheets on jumped to his feet.

He grabbed his cloak, put it on and evened out the wrinkles. He then walked up to the window of his room. While shoving it open, he held his breath, praying that the old wood wouldn't creak.

His prayers were answered, and so he leapt silently into the night without anyone noticing.

* * *

During dinner, Sasuke couldn't help but stare at the unoccupied seat, were usually Tobi would sit. He was probably staying at his weird friends' house in the woods, the dark-haired teen concluded, judging by the call and Tobi's rather hasty departure after.

Something must've happened, yet it didn't really surprise Sasuke. Strange things happened in this forest. It was bound to happen one day. Maybe one of them got crushed under a tree or something like that.

(Still, he couldn't ignore this uncomfortable feeling that there was more to it than that.)

He tore his eyes away from the empty chair and proceeded to eat, but he felt his dark eyes drifting over to the cursed seat once again. He frowned.

"Is something wrong, dear?" inquired his mother, looking at him worryingly. He shook his head and replied "No, I'm fine, kaa-san."

And so the dinner went on, with his parents conversing and with him staring at a stupid chair.

Later that evening, one of his friends called, they talked for a while and an hour later he said goodnight to both his parents.

It was quite early, and the Uchiha wondered why he was feeling so tired today.

Shrugging, he reached for the light switch and turned off the light in his room. He pulled his blanket over his head, but it took a long time for sleep to claim him.

* * *

Itachi chose to make his way over the tree tops where the branches were thin and broke easily, not like the stronger ones further down.

He knew that it was rather dangerous, but it also had its advantages. A) Up there he could actually see where he was going because of the soft light the moon provided and B) the few people brave (or stupid) enough to take a walk in the middle of the night in this forest wouldn't see him.

And so he kept on jumping from tree to tree. In the distance, he could already make out the city ahead of him and he increased his pace slightly.

It had been a while since he'd last been in his home town alone and not in disguise, at least a whole year. Though he would never admit it,

it felt right to be back.

If he did, things would get even more complicated than they already were. Kisame and the others now knew of the (more or less existent) connection between him and Deidara, which was already bad enough.

But if he visited Konoha more often, he'd get more carelessly and then somebody was bound to find out that he was sneaking away at night and returned to his old life, even if just for a while. (Technically, the man was breaking two rules at once at the moment.)

He jumped down from the last tree, having reached the border of his home.

Konohagakure.

He remembered the way very well (and he would never, _ever_ forget it) and luckily, his destination was further away from the city center, so it was easier for him to remain unseen.

Following the little path he had discovered a few years ago, he wondered if it was still that easy to break into the house. (After all, a year had passed since he last visited.)

Itachi's feet didn't make the slightest sound as he continued his way down the hill that lead from the woods to the Uchiha mansion. The only thing that bothered him right now was that there were barely any shadows to hide in and that the chilly night breeze blew his dark hair into his face, blocking his view every once in a while.

Irritated, he brushed the black tresses out of his eyes yet again. What he saw then, his heart skipped a beat, and he allowed his gaze to wander up the tall building.

He stepped a little closer to the wall, closer and closer, and he craned his neck up further with every step he took, his eyes fixated at a window several meters above his head. Memories flashed before his eyes. It felt like the very first time he'd come here, all over again.

He had business tonight here. Reluctant, he tore his eyes away from the glass and shifted his gaze at the window next to the one he'd stared at earlier.

Itachi closed his eyes and felt the familiar power course through his body, gathering at the soles of his feet. He took a few steps back, before he ran towards the wall and the second before he would've crashed into it, he jumped. His feet hit the building's façade, and he pushed himself off, using the resulting push to jump once again, higher this time. That way, he climbed up all the way to the window.

'They didn't improve the security system...What a shame...Intruders can easily break in.'

Intruders like him.

By now, he hung between the two frames and his ears picked up the sound of someone's calm breathing from his right. The raven knew very well who was breathing there.

Tossing all cautions aside, he slipped into the room through the dark hole in the wall, to carry out his self-imposed duty.

His feet touched the ground without making the slightest noise and he slowly got off the window sill and got engulfed by darkness, only disturbed by the gentle light of the moon.

Knowing that he didn't have much time, the Freak quickly moved over to the human body lying on a bed. Only the familiar black spikes could be seen, for the rest of the head was hidden underneath dark blue covers.

A small smile found its way on Itachi's face as he stared down at the sleeping form of his little brother.

This was one of the few moments in which the older Uchiha regretted his decision. When he regretted leaving. (But he had been left with no other choice)

The moment of tranquility didn't last long; Itachi then remembered his purpose of sneaking into the estate and a sigh escaped his from the cold chapped lips as he took another glance at the black-haired sibling.

He muttered a quite "Goodnight".

The next second, the spot where he'd stood was empty and he was nowhere in sight.

* * *

The second Sasuke awoke from his deep slumber, he knew that something was wrong. He couldn't tell what it was and he didn't know if he really wanted to find out, but there was no point in denying it.

So everything he was willing to do in his current state was to perk up his ears and listen for any sounds out of the ordinary. For a moment, he was already convinced that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, when he suddenly noticed that his breathing wasn't the only one in the room.

Definitely NOT normal.

He froze as he concentrated on the noise disturbing the silence he was used to.

"Goodnight."

The whisper was barely there, but he caught it. Not that it eased his discomfort at all.

Because he knew that voice very, very well.

He heard a foot tapping on the floor, and suddenly, the person who had intruded his room was gone. Nervously, he reassured himself that there was just him in there, that he was alone now, before he bolted up and crept silently on the floor over to his window.

Minutes passed and he finally regained control over his shaking limbs and he risked a look. From up there he had a very good view on his surroundings and he was sure that he saw a silhouette disappearing somewhere in the shadows.

Still trembling, Sasuke climbed back into his bed and screwed his eyes shut.

He would tell no one of what he'd seen and heard. He still remembered the last time he did. (And he would never go through _that_ hell again. Two times had been enough.)

* * *

With the skills that would've put even the most professional burglar to shame, Itachi Uchiha re-entered Akasuna Manor the same way he'd left it.

In his hands he clutched a little note book, the cover dark blue, an Uchiha fan imprinted on it and decorated with several quotes and childish doodles. It proved to be useful to check on both Sasuke and Tobi, or the raven would've never discovered the photo album three years ago. The childish teen had the tendency to comment ALL photos and gathering information would be very useful.

If anyone would ever ask from where he had gotten it, he would say the same he had said about that photograph. Tobi (who he had recognized in a crowd in Konoha some time ago) had dropped his bag and Itachi had picked it up.

He gently slipped it into one of the cloak's pockets and he remained inside the frame, between the outside and his room. Just now he realized how worn out he was; a little sleep wouldn't hurt, would it?

But the lost Uchiha made one mistake. He was too caught up in his thoughts, too tired and...a little bit too slow. He lingered a couple of seconds too long in his crouched position on the window sill.

Suddenly, the door was ripped open with unneeded brutal force by none other but a grinning Kisame.

Itachi knew when he was in trouble.

* * *

Sleep didn't last long for him. Outside, the sun had barely risen and he was already waking up. That was very unusual for him, for he always slept in late.

Not today.

Paying it no attention, he rolled around, trying to get some more sleep, but unfortunately for him, it wouldn't work for some strange reason.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, smiling at the fact that it was still smooth and that no annoying knots had appeared in the night like it often did, one of the downsides of having long hair and not just shaving it off. Yet, something about his hair was different.

Wait...

It was shorter. Surprised, the blonde repeated the process, only to end up with the same result. He was sure, somebody had cut his hair.

Everything that had occurred in the past 42 hours came rushing back to him, overloading his slightly sleep-deprived brain and he finally realized that he wasn't in his own room.

A pair of azure-blue eyes hectically took in their environment, searching for anything that could possibly pose a threat. Relieved to find out that he was alone, the artist slowly got up, with the blankets still draped over his shoulders.

Groggily, he raised his hand up to his head to support it and to ease the upcoming headache. From what he saw, he was inside a plain room. A bed, a wardrobe and a desk with a chair, one of the walls made of stone and the others painted white, a naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling. No window, meaning no way to escape for him.

An almost normal room, one would think, but Deidara knew very well that it wasn't.

Nothing in here was, that much he'd already realized.

The only way to leave his prison of a room was through the door at the other side of the room. Yet it would be foolish to try to sneak away through that obvious way out, for he would probably get caught before he even gets to reach the hall. He also vaguely remembered this little traitorous freak Maki locking the only exit.

Oh, how dearly he wanted to rip her head off for luring into this nuthouse, drugging him and locking him up in this room without explaining why he was in this situation!

Then again, maybe he didn't even want to know what they wanted to do with him.

Deidara let out a frustrated breath through gritted teeth as he stretched to get rid of the stiffness in his limbs. While keeping an eye at the door, he lied down again.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, when he heard the unmistakable clicking sound of a key being turned in a lock. In a flash, he was standing in front of the door and glared at the little gap that grew bigger and bigger.

Finally, Maki stepped inside, looking a little tired, yet a smile was plastered on her face. "You're already awake?" she asked sweetly. But he wasn't going to fall her smile again and he backed away from her, waiting for the best opportunity to run her over and make a mad dash for it.

As if reading his thoughts, she suddenly shut the door and turned the key in one swift movement, effectively preventing him from putting his plan into action. She did that with a speed he hadn't thought she possessed. The girl caught the look in his eyes and he could swear that she was mocking him.

With thoughtful and carefully placed steps, she neared him, her eyes focused on his. He waited for her to do something, say something.

Deidara was mildly shocked when she bowed deep down in front of him. "Good morning, Deidara-kun. I hope you slept well." Blinking a couple of times, he stared at her and for a moment forgot that he was actually very pissed off. "Uhm, yes..."

Maki lifted her head, her eyebrows hidden underneath her fringe. "Ah!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "That's good!"

After that, they both kept silent, waiting for one another to speak up. In the end it was him who broke the silence, remembering the events that had taken place the other day.

"Let me go. Now."

It was a simple request.

"I am afraid that this is not possible" she countered, blinking innocently.

The blond male snarled and clenched his fits, ready to punch the closest thing in reach. What would be Maki. She realized apparently what he was about to do, and she pulled out a shot filled with some clear liquid. He unconsciously gulped.

His eyes not leaving the sharp needle, he took a step back. The maid didn't look that innocent anymore, though the injection needle was...out of place, as if it didn't belong to her. But since when did potentially deadly shots and rather cute children go well with each other?

She could sense his discomfort, of that he was sure, and she lowered her hand that grasped the weapon. "Please. Just do what I tell you to and I promise you will find the answers you look for."

He contemplated this for second. He just had to follow some orders and then he would maybe, just maybe, find the answer to this nightmare. Easy, right?

And he accepted.

To his surprise, Maki didn't respond anything. She simply strolled over to the wardrobe he had noticed earlier and she opened it. "I put everything that is about your size in here. Pick something nice, will you?" He did as he was told and took a look at the clothing inside the closet.

"What the..."

He had never worn that kind of clothing before, and had only seen somebody wearing something similar once in one of his history books at school. Fishnets as shirts, weird pants with long white cloths as belts, bandages and some other articles that he never had dreamed about wearing were stored inside.

"Sorry, but those were the only ones available, if you don't mind. I am sure that you will get used to it" the traitor next to him assured him and handed him a pair of boxers.

After some time he found some things that were acceptable and asked Maki for further instructions.

"Take a shower, get those cloths on and then return to me. We will make you look pretty!"

As the female removed some planks of the floor and revealed a staircase, he was already too tired of being impressed or scared or surprised to say anything.

With complete darkness surrounding him as he stumbled down the stairs, he tried hard not to fall and break his neck and he constantly looked back, just to see his captor sitting at the opening, giving him a reassuring grin. For some reason, it made him feel even more uncomfortable.

Finally he managed to reach the door she had told him to look out for and he opened it carefully, peeking inside the room beyond it. Fortunately, there was a light switch as he found out and as soon as the lamp at the ceiling flickered to life, he felt as some tension already left him.

Stepping inside the shower, he wondered who paid for all this. The Manor was not exactly small, there was electricity, and, as he noticed soon, hot water. And who paid Maki? Was she even getting paid? Or was she working voluntary?

Deidara finished his shower quickly and started to put his new foreign cloths on. It proved to be quite difficult to get the fishnet-shirt on and the knot of the 'belt' that belonged to his outfit loosened constantly.

A quick look into the mirror told him that he looked slightly ridiculous in his new attire and he frowned.

Then his eyes fell on the small cut on his lip and a disturbing grin crept on his face. Maki wanted him to be pretty, flawless.

Carefully, slowly he bit down on his lip and his teeth cut through the thin skin, dug into his flesh and blood escaped the new wound. He continued mutilating his lip in that manner, when he snapped out of his daze.

God, what was he doing? (He would never understand why Pain did this by _choice_.) Those people in here had a creepy effect on him.

Hastily, he wiped the red liquid from his face and washed it away with some water under the shower head. Deidara watched as it flowed to the drain and disappeared from his sight.

He tore his eyes away from it and reached for the door handle to return to the surface.

* * *

Deidara had always been a boy who was self-conscious of his looks.

Appearances were important to him and he always made sure to make himself look decent in front of others. Unfortunately, it was this thing about him that made people talk about him behind his back, made them stare and snicker.

"Hahahaha! You look like a girl!" they taunted, pointed at him and ran away. "You freak!"

As a child, they affected him greatly. He would eat less, he would take less care of himself, just to please them.

When he found out, he would never be able to act proper (in their opinion), he didn't despair, but grew more confident, and when a group of them came up to him to tease him when he was fourteen,

he grinned at them,

beat them up,

and laughed in their faces.

* * *

"My my, doesn't he look pretty?" taunted Hidan as he watched the pair through a secret hole in the wall. It was cramped inside the small channel that was hidden inside of the walls of the mansion and he purposely blocked Zetsu's and thus Itachi's view when Zetsu blurted out that he wanted to eat their guest and newest member (f*cking annoying cannibal).

Zetsu complained naturally and for once, both sides of him agreed. But Itachi remained quiet.

Not that this was such an unusual event, but Hidan had at least expected some sort of protest from the raven. And not only that. He was blinking a lot more than anyone else and he had his face stuck in a constant frown. It was if something was annoying him, perhaps a pain in the eyes that he couldn't get rid of.

The Jashinist watched the fellow Freak, before he reverted his attention back at Maki and Deidara who were on their way to the puppet master. It was going to get interesting.

* * *

The blonde tried to listen carefully to the girl's instructions as she led him down a hallway, up a stair and to a huge, wooden door.

His head hung low, the hair fell over his left eye and he tried to keep all the things Maki mentioned to him, things he should remember, in memory. The teen wasn't even sure what she was saying, because he couldn't seem to focus on her.

His hair was once again pulled into that ponytail (since the other one had come undone sometime last evening), the outfit he wore was uncomfortable, his heart pounded painfully vigorous and all in all he simply felt miserable.

But it was finally time. Time for everything to be explained.

"You know, I'm sure he'll like you."

A cold hand reached out and was about to brush the long strands of hair that covered his left eyes out of his face, yet he could catch her wrist in time before it made contact with his hair. "Don't touch my hair again, Maki" he warned her and let go of her arm again.

He could almost picture the half surprised, half saddened expression on her face and he smirked at that.

"Well...You shouldn't frown so much. Please smile! For me!" the maid laughed out and pushed the corners of his mouth up in a childish manner.

_Hora, hora warainasai kawaii okao de_

_Come on now, smile! Let's see that precious face_

This time, the artist didn't pull away or snap at her, he simply scowled even more until she had to give in and she retreated her hands from his face. Her dead eyes were staring back at him. Then she grabbed his trembling hand and for a second, he swore he saw her grin.

"You don't have to be scared, Deidara...You need to focus..."

_kegawa wo mata kabutte_

_Slip back into your skin_

_shibai ni modoru_

_and go back to the show_

With that said, she pulled the door open and pushed him into the room behind it. Before he could turn back, the demonic brat locked the door behind him and so he was against the door and screaming at her to let him out would only turn out to be useless, he figured, (not to mention that when he turned around, he couldn't find the door again) so he instead proceeded to walk further into the room. "Stupid girl..." he snarled.

There was only one lone chair that looked almost like a throne in the middle of the room, illuminated by the light that came through a small window, he noted and a shiver crept up his spine.

Something was in the air and the atmosphere was suffocating and the boards beneath his feet creaked with every step he took.

The blond male continued to cautiously move over to the other wall, when his ears picked up a sound. It was that voice again, the voice that made him come here in the first place.

It was singing again, but this time the voice was louder than in the woods, the person had to be close by.

It was still as captivating as it was yesterday night...

Suddenly hands closed around his wrists and he was staring directly into the face of boy.

Light red, curly hair reached down to his chin and complimented his pale complexion.

The stranger's eyes were a dull grey, with long lashes and they were half closed, giving him a bored or sleepy expression.

To be honest, his whole face seemed to give off that expression of detachment, boredom.

If it held any expression at all.

The blonde stared at the face for a moment as if hypnotized by it, then he snapped out of it and started to struggle against the boy's hold. "Let go, you sick bastard!" he raged and even bit in the other male's arm when he wouldn't budge.

"Shush."

His voice was calm, but laced with annoyance, a voice that made Deidara shiver.

He stopped his futile attempts to escape and held still as his azure blue eyes watched the stranger with curiosity, fear and anger.

"It seems Maki didn't exaggerate when she said you are pretty" the mysterious boy stated and leaned forward just a little more. "A very nice eye color."

Heat crept up the artist's neck and his cheeks flushed in embarrassment and he clenched his teeth.

He didn't like it one bit that this freak thought that he was pretty or that he liked his eye color, nor did he like the analytical look he was giving him.

"Tell me who you are and why the f*ck your creepy servants or whatever they are drugged, tied and imprisoned me!" he demanded bravely and tried to take a step back.

"My name is Sasori" Sasori answered lazily and let go of Deidara's wrists.

He waited for the redhead to continue, but instead he stepped closer and inspected the explosion-lover further. He wasn't listening to the random "Answer me, you freak!/god dammit!"s nor did he seem to be affected by the fingernails that scratched over his skin or the punches that met his chest in the least. Deidara was getting more pissed off by the second, he had thrown all cautions aside and the lack of reaction from this 'Sasori' was making him mad.

He wished he had some clay and nice, little bomb with him that he could shove down the freak's throat.

In one last powerful hit, his nails cut into the material of the man's black cloak that was similar to that guy Hidan's and he ripped it off.

When his eyes fell onto what lay beneath the fabric, he gasped and started to tremble.

How was that possible...?

It was the body of a puppet he was staring at, not a human's.

A puppet, that guy was a freaking puppet!

No wonder why his eyes seemed just as dead as Maki's.

The thing that caught his attention was a cylinder in the marionette's chest, just where a heart should be.

It was white and on it was, in red, the Kanji for 'Scorpion'. Sasori. From it, a web of what looked like veins spread."

What..."

* * *

Even though many people pointed out that Deidara had certain feminine tendencies, he was never fond of dolls or puppets or marionettes.

For him, they were soulless and their eyes were so disgustingly empty, something the lively blonde couldn't stand.

His mother once took him to a puppet theater and forced him to watch one of the plays.

That day, he had used his mother as a shield from their stares and he was never ashamed to admit that he they scared him.

That's why he loved explosions.

They were complete opposites of marionettes. They were loud, they were beauty only recognizable for a second, but most importantly they were full of life.

* * *

The puppet reached out and placed his hand on Deidara's chest.

He could feel the blond teen's heart slam against his ribcage underneath his palm, he could hear it pump the blood through his veins and he enjoyed the feeling of it.

"What a nice heart beat..."

Soon, the blonde would be just like him.

And he would be his.

Ah, such a great heart beat...

_"...Nee, choudai?"_

_„…Give me that?"_

* * *

Sasuke couldn't sleep throughout the rest of the night and the employees and his mother watched the bags underneath his eyes with worry today.

He just couldn't forget this voice that seemed to be on permanent repeat in his head.

Itachi...

God, it was happening again!

As a way to distract himself, he dialed a number on his cell phone and waited until the person picked up."Sasuke, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me" he answered. "I just wanted to know if you'd like to come over."

The girl on the other end giggled and replied "Yes I do, but you'll have to wait for another hour or so. You see, I'm still working right now." "No problem. Are you still visiting that old woman...what was her name..."

"You mean Chiyo?

Yeah, I still do. She's a lovely old woman. Such a pity she never has any company other than her brother.

And Sasuke...you sound...odd. Is there something wrong?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes, having heard this way too many times today. "No, I'm fine, really." She sounded skeptical when she said "Okay, if you say so..." They talked for a while, before she bid her good bye.

"See you, Sakura."

The pink-haired girl spent quite a lot of time with that...Chiyo, he realized a while after their talk. He'd come to visit her once together with Sakura, but he never liked the woman.

At least now his thoughts weren't focusing on Itachi anymore.


	6. Enlightenment!

**OH MY GOD. I AM _SO_ DAMN SORRY.**

**Words can't describe how deeply I apologize. It's been, what, almost a year and a half? I am an ass. Seriously. It was just that my writer's block seemed to succeed every artist's block I ever had before. This chapter is the result of hours of staring at my screen, constantly re-writing things and correcting typos. And months of trying not to fuck this up. (It's kinda awkward to be writing this fanfic again, since it's been a while since I did some constructive 'Naruto'-writing or reading Naruto-fanfictions in general.)**

**A lot of things happened within this year. I've gotten into Homestuck (I don't cover up swear words anymore, hooray!), had my personal ups and downs, and (hopefully) improved as a writer. I read through the previous chapters of this story and I was like "Wait just a motherfuckin' second...what the." It's like...I was a nail-filled bomb and instead of nails, I scattered comma all over the place. In my native language, you just use a lot of them and I couldn't get it into my head apparently that you don't do the same in English. I will have to go and edit the shit out of this thing. **

**If you're reading this and you've known my story for a while, I want to thank you for sticking with me. I hardly deserve it. **

* * *

**Chapter.6: Enlightenment!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

_There are many, many uses for masks_

_Sorrow, anger, fear? Hide it_

_A shield over your face it casts_

_Past, present? Just go, hide it _

_Such a useful, useful thing_

_But they do hinder one's sight_

_Dependent, desperately you cling_

_Future's impossible to hide_

How to recognize a Freak

A Freak's appearance doesn't necessarily differ from a normal person's one. Actually, a lot of them look perfectly normal and can integrate very well into society without standing out in the crowd. However, along with the chakra, some Freaks also inherit some rather strange features, like uncommon hair or eye colors that can come in all colors, ranging from blue, to yellow, to bright red. Few of them also inherit abnormal skin colors or the like. Some of them who don't hide those by either using wigs, dying their hair or using contact lenses (some even cover their appearance with Gen-Jutsu (see also: Gen-Jutsu) claim it's a birth defect which usually works.

Sometimes, one can recognize a Freak by the way they react to certain things. As sad as it is, Freaks who are brought up as normal people feel that they are different which leads in not few cases to separation from society. These Freaks have a rather fragile psyche and react badly when confronted with the idea that they are different, even more than normal people who would of course defend themselves. Also, seeing as Freaks want to stay covered, they might try to avoid too much contact. Which is not to say that every person who fits this profile necessarily is a Freak.

-Kakashi H.-

Discovering you are a Freak

There are families who bring up their children as Freaks, meaning the children know from the beginning that they possess chakra and are taught to control it from early on. Those who are not being taught that they possess chakra have no control over this power and in moments of great distress or in general emotional turmoil, the power breaks out, which can lead to great destruction in some cases. Some of them never learn how to use chakra and the power is never used again.

If you want to try out if you're a Freak, read the text "How chakra works" on page 7.

-Kakashi H.-

* * *

While Pain and Tobi had fallen asleep quite some time ago, Konan was still awake and not tired at all. She had taken her grandmother's tome along with her when neither of her friends had been looking with the resolution to read the whole volume over the night. She knew sleep was a luxury she couldn't afford right now.

The woman turned another page and read its content, a little more attentive than before. "Discovering you are a freak" the headline proclaimed and while she still didn't fully believe in all this chakra-stuff, it did make her curious. A strand of her blue hair was curled around her finger and the absolutely ridiculous thought that maybe this was more than a simple birth defect popped up in her mind.  
After all, this book apparently did hold information that could help her in real life. And why would someone make such an effort just to scare people? And which mental illness caused such elaborate delusions?  
A small snicker escaped her. 'Nagato would think_ I'm _the crazy one here!'

* * *

Deidara slapped the hand away.

"Don't touch me like that" he snarled. The whole ordeal was starting to get exhausting and tiring. He was a person who didn't like to repeat himself and this person (if it could be called a person anyway) was really wearing on his nerves.

"You're getting impatient? That's a good thing" the puppet stated and immediately took a step back, granting his guest a little more freedom. "You don't want to waste time and you get straight to the point." "Thank you." The blonde's face scrunched up in a grimace that almost resembled a smile."Deidara, what do you know about souls?" The 'smile' slid off his face and he pondered the question. It appeared like Sasori meant it because his expression turned into one of annoyance the longer he waited for the answer. "Not much" Deidara drawled eventually, just to spite the puppet a little more. "After you die, they leave the body and go on to the afterlife, right? If they exist, that is.""At least something. Now souls do exist, Deidara. The fact that I'm still alive despite my puppet body should be proof enough of that.""What are you hinting at with this? That I'm your _soul mate _or whatever?" He flailed his arms in an exaggerated manner to express just how ridiculous he thought this was. Okay, so apparently souls existed, but soul mates? That was madness. Pure and utter madness. And disconcerting. Sasori seemed to think so as well. He closed his eyes in what appeared to be exasperation "Not 'soul mates'. There is nothing preposterous such as that. Souls are not predestined to be with a specific other one. It is true however that some souls are more compatible with each other.""So you're basically saying that...our souls are compatible?" As the words left his mouth, the blonde artist already felt another shiver running down his spine. The prospect of being a match for a psycho was not appealing and a part of him wished he hadn't asked. The redhead nodded and explained "I found you by using my voice. A girl taught me a technique to find souls compatible to mine. Only those can hear my singing from as far away as you and Maki."At the mention of the weird girl, the growing horror the blonde was experiencing was forgotten for a second. If Maki was just as fitted as him and not to forget female, why hadn't Sasori chosen her?As if his opponent had read his mind at that moment, he said "I didn't choose Maki as my companion because her personality doesn't suit mine. She's a valuable addition to my collection, not exactly a companion. I am not all that sure about you yet, my impression of you so far hasn't been all bad though."Deidara couldn't hold back a groan. This was bad, as bad as it could get. The puppet had already fixated on him! And if that last comment had been intended as a compliment he surely wasn't the least bit flattered. _  
doushita no sonna me de karada wo furuwasete__Why are you trembling in front of me like a scared mouse?_

"Is this too much for you to handle at once?" he questioned and tried to sound concerned, but it didn't quite come out right and made it seem as if Sasori was mocking him.

_'He's asking me that now? It's a little late for that.' _

And Deidara was fed up with this. He was fed up with all the bullshit he'd been getting the last two days or however long it had been since he last was outside. "Listen, Mister. I demanded answers, and I will get them. Don't go trying to weasel out of this."

"Didn't I already answer your questions?" Sasori cocked an eyebrow, his equivalent of a confused expression. In response, his guest almost facepalmed.

"You told me why and how I got here. Now tell me what you think you're going to do with me! Because I sure as hell won't stay in this creepy-ass place!" The last bit should've probably not been said, but Deidara was long beyond self-control.

"This would be easier if you cooperated..." The puppet edged closer once more, causing the blonde to take a step back from his captor. Why was this creep so bend on physical contact?

"You should know that regardless of whatever happens from now on, you cannot return to your former life. If you did, it would pose a threat to everyone in this manor and that would result in your corpse serving as the main course. The only way you'll leave this place is dead." Gray eyes studied the other's face, taking in the horror that flashed across the features.

"It won't come to this if you don't prompt us. Even if I didn't keep you here out of my own interest, you would fit right in" Sasori quickly interjected when Deidara was about to say something.

"'Fit right in'? Are you fucking serious?" In another surge of rage, the blond artist pushed Sasori to the ground whose eyes widened for a second in surprise before sliding half-shut once more. "Are you trying to tell me I am-"he struggled for words for a moment. "Are you telling me I am some, some FREAK?"

"Precisely."

Old wounds opened up. Memories of children laughing and taunting, pulling at long blond hair flooded his brain.

"What? Does long hair qualify me as a freak? Or liking explosions? Or, ha, having tattoos?" Deidara all but exploded. "That's laughable! I mean, look at you! You're a puppet!" A nervous laugh escaped him. "And yet you have the nerve to call ME a freak!"

His breaths were short and heavy from his outburst and he warily eyed the redhead who had not moved from his spot on the ground. He practically radiated annoyance, his face set in a scowl. "You don't quite seem to understand the concept of being a Freak."

In a flash, the puppet was back on his feet, pulled on his discarded cloak and wordlessly passed the seething blonde. "What are you waiting for?" snapped Sasori and motioned Deidara to follow him. "I thought you wanted answers."

He pressed his hand against the wall and opened the secret passageway.

* * *

Together they silently moved through the narrow corridor Deidara had passed through earlier and descended the flight of stairs, the lack of words allowing the blond teen to somewhat calm down.

The he thus flinched when his companion suddenly called for someone.

"Orochimaru."

A wooden panel of the wall unexpectedly was removed to his left and he jumped back when the opening revealed the thin face of the man who looked eerily serpent-like. He was no less unappealing in proper lighting than he was the night before, illuminate only be a small flame.

"How may I be of assistance?" the snake-man questioned, slightly leaning out of his hiding place.

Dismissing the mockery in his voice, Sasori asked about the whereabouts of a person with the name Karin.

With a hissed "Laboratory 2", the opening in the wall was obscured by the wood panel again.

"Come on" ordered the red-haired marionette and tugged at Deidara's wrist once before already moving towards a hallway shrouded in darkness.

* * *

Chakra signatures and trackers

Every person has a very distinct chakra signature. Others are able to recognize them once a certain amount of chakra is released. The nature of someone's chakra depends heavily on their personality and their emotions. A kind person might possess chakra that one could describe as pleasantly warm, while people who for example are manipulative or cunning have chakra that feels cold to others. Otherwise, the chakra signature of a Freak is too weak to be sensed.

There are some individuals that can detect chakra from miles away, even if the person in question is not using their power at that moment. These people are commonly referred to as 'trackers'. Besides sensing other Freaks, they can suppress their own chakra signature as not to be found by others. Additionally, trackers have the rather peculiar quirk that they immediately make up their mind about you the second they have analyzed your chakra. No amount of flattering or trying to convince them of your good intentions will change their minds if your chakra says something else.

-Kakashi H.

* * *

Karin turned out to be a teenage girl with abnormally red hair, straight and reaching down to her mid-back on the one side, unkempt and shoulder-length on the other. The fluorescent light in this sort of underground-laboratory reflected in her thick-rimmed glasses and made her skin appear sickly pale. All in all she was just as weird as all the others in this freak show.

"Ah. So you're the one I sensed."

The words hardly made any sense, but she didn't make the impression of someone who expected an answer. She leaned forward, her ruby red eyes traveling up and down Deidara's frame with a mixture of curiosity and . The click of a tongue, followed by an approving nod.

His irritation level was rising again. The girl straightened up again and sauntered over to Sasori who was obviously displeased with the female's attitude. "Out!" she commanded and waited impatiently until he had left. The second the door fell shut, her whole demeanor changed.

With a smile he'd labeled as flirtatious under any other circumstances, she slowly turned towards the blonde. "Sooo, Deidara was your name, right?" The one in question nodded.

"Alright, then let me tell you about...chakra."

The word 'chakra' had a particular ominous feel to it and the way she let her voice drop to a whisper at it further stirred his unease.

"First, why don't we make ourselves more comfortable? I have the feeling you're a bit tired" she said and plopped down on a rusty folding chair and he followed her example. Indeed, he felt like all the energy from his sleep last night had been drained out of him and while the seating was not the most comfortable, it was very much welcomed. Besides, something told him the conversation he was about to have would be nearly as frustrating as the one with his new 'friend'.

Karin cleared her throat and began.

* * *

Whenever Tobi closed his eyes for a nap, nothing in the world could wake him up again. He'd lie there motionless for hours, sleeping peacefully and getting lost in dreams of sunshine and happiness in a world where people didn't go around stabbing children in their eyes.

Why had the last night been so restless then? One might argue that such a thing should've been expected, after all his best friend had disappeared. Yet even after he lost his eye, he slept like a log! Somewhere deep down he knew that there was more to this. He just didn't know _what_ just yet.

At six in the morning he couldn't take it anymore, threw back the covers and dragged himself out of bed, blindly grabbing for his mask. Once the orange material covered his face, he embarked on the long, painful journey to the kitchen.

The scent of freshly brewed tea wafted through the room's entrance and found Konan, apparently deeply engrossed in her literature. There was a slight frown on her face as she skimmed through the pages' content, her cup of tea untouched.

The Uchiha was torn between greeting her and absconding. There were the unmistakable shadows of sleep deprivation beneath her eyes, also he didn't want to break her concentration. On the other hand, this very book could've been what kept her up all night from the looks of it and if such was the case, it would be wiser to get her away from it.

His internal debate was ended once she spotted him on her own and she almost reluctantly shut the heavy volume. "Morning Tobi" she acknowledged him, sounding disgruntled, and took a sip from her cup. A bit intimidated by the irritated vibes she was giving him, the black-haired boy sat down on the other side of the table, trying to get as much distance between her and himself. Sometimes Konan could be really scary...

And so they sat there for a while, waiting and waiting for something to happen. Tobi was itching to do something, anything. Sitting still had never been his forte and neither had been holding his tongue. Damn, this was practically _killing_ him! Eventually it was too much for him to bear and he sprung to his feet. His blue-haired friend gave him a puzzled look at which he quickly mumbled "I should better head home right now, kaa-san is probably worrying and I still have things to do!"

Her eyes widened. "I won't let you go home alone." Her tone left no room for arguments. Not that he complained; he was sure that if he head home alone he would suffer from a heart attack, with every shadow a demon preying on him.

* * *

"I'm baaack!"

There came no reply so Tobi figured his mother was meeting one of her friends and Fugaku was at work, as usual. And Sasuke...well Sasuke hardly ever greeted him. It was no big secret that he wasn't very fond of his masked brother and apparently felt like the few words he spoke shouldn't be wasted on someone as 'disgustingly cheerful' as Tobi.

The teen discovered him lurking in the living room with an expression reminiscent of Konan's that morning, complete with his eyebrows drawn together, the corners of his lips curled downwards slightly and bags beneath his eyes. Sasuke was worst when tired and so his foster brother had to suppress a yelp when a pair of dark eyes drifted over to him.

"Did something happen?"

Tobi blinked in confusion. He wasn't used to his sibling showing much interested in him and the question caught him a little off guard. If it had been any other day, he would've gladly shared his life with Sasuke. If it had been any other day, he would've loved to strengthen their bond. Yet Deidara's disappearance was something he simply couldn't tell him.

His brother scoffed when he received no answer and resumed glaring at nothing in particular, allowing the mask wielder to live another day.

As the Uchiha poured milk into a bowl of cereal in the kitchen to calm his rumbling stomach he realized that there had been something...off about the other male. Just another abnormality in his life; lately a lot of strange things were happening, the oddities were piling up.

The next weird thing awaited him once he arrived in his room. He crossed the distance to his neatly organized desk (customary for an Uchiha) and picked up several books and various personal items he had left there. He could _swear_ his folder had been on the other side of the table and he had the distinct feeling something was missing. Something important. He tore at his hair in frustration when he racked his brain.

If he could only remember **what **it was...!

* * *

**Iamsosorry.**


End file.
